Accent
by filmgrl13
Summary: What happens when Jack comes across a young girl that shares many of his traits, including his accent? Secrets are revealed, and life will never be the same.
1. Prologue

**A/N: **I've finally got some time to focus on my stories and, looking over Accent, I'm not completely happy with it. So, I'm going to go chapter by chapter and tweak some things here, fix or change some things there. Just try and improve the overall quality. I'm not making any changes to the plot or anything, so don't worry about that. This is just something I feel I must do before continuing with the story. Hopefully, it won't take too long, but all my faithful readers know how I get...distracted and forgetful. (Sorry about that, by the way. I do try.)

**Disclaimer: **Torchwood and anything else recognizable does *not* belong to me. Trace Peterson, Todd Smith, Aunt Clarice, and any other OCs that may appear do. I am not making any profits off this story, otherwise I would not be a broke college student.

**Accent**

**Prologue**

A young Welsh boy's hazel eyes widened as his body was slammed into a brick wall.

"What did you say to me, punk?" came a strong female voice with an American accent. It belonged to a beautiful girl with short, slightly curled brown locks, clear blue eyes, and a slightly cleft chin. She stood tall at 5'11" and was very strong.

Dressed in crisp blue jeans, a light blue t-shirt, and a black leather jacket, she appeared to be a pretty ordinary teenager. But the truth was that she was far from it.

The boy managed to squeak out, "Nothing," before being shoved painfully to the ground. His shaggy brown hair fell into his eyes, obstructing his view of the pissed-off girl. As he hurriedly pushed it away, he noticed a boot next to him before hands shot down to force him back up.

"Wanna try again?" the girl sneered, pulling her prey so close their noses were practically touching.

"Uh, uh," the boy stuttered fearfully, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I won't make fun of your accent again, I promise!"

She looked ready to fling him aside when a steely voice behind them asked, "Miss Peterson, what are you doing to Mister Smith?"

The girl, Trace Peterson, hurriedly let go of the boy. Todd Smith pretended to brush off his pants while regaining control of his body, which had been shaking, before straightening up, saying in a slightly wavering voice, "We were just getting to know each other, Mr. Cooper."

The man in question continued to glare at the two. Thinking quickly, Trace stepped forward. "Mr. Cooper, I'm afraid there was a small misunderstanding between us. You see, Todd here had made a small comment about my American accent, and I mistook it as a put-down.

"But now everything has been straightened out here, and Todd and I are the best of friends. I thank you, though, for taking such a strong interest in the well-being of your students."

Trace had easily thrown her arm around the confused-looking 6' boy before giving a mega-watt smile that always threw people off.

Mr. Cooper, who felt a bit confused himself at what just happened, simply nodded before walking off.

As soon as the man was out of sight, the girl tightened her grip on Todd's shoulder before asking sarcastically, "Now where did we leave off? Oh, yeah."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Todd couldn't help but to gulp at the mischievous gleam in Trace's eye as she pulled him around to face her. He watched as her grin widened and her left eyebrow rose before she did the unexpected.

She pulled the frightened boy in to a deep, almost needy, kiss. He was so surprised that it never even occurred to him to try and pull away. After exactly one minute, Trace pulled back, flashed him her mesmerizing smile and casually walked away.

Todd watched her leave in a daze. He could not believe that a) she kissed him, b) it was _amazing_, and c) he was falling for this strange girl after 10 minutes of being scared for his life and one minute of magic.

As Trace walked away, she couldn't help but smile wider as she thought about the fact that she caught the guy off guard and that he seemed to enjoy the kiss.

_Well,_ she thought, _if he wants me, he's gonna have to impress me, which will not be easy_.

Just as she reached the doors to go inside the building, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Next was history. Luckily, she already learned the current lessons at her previous school, leaving her to daydream.

After a while, her thoughts turned to Todd Smith. She knew she over reacted just a little, tiny bit to his comments. Of course he thought it was strange that she sounded American. Everyone did, including herself. Her mom was British, born and raised in London.

It didn't matter where her dad was from, since she grew up with her mom. She had never been to the States, nor had anyone in her family, or any of her friends. It was just plain weird.

Trace then found herself wondering about her dad. The father she never knew. She didn't know anything about him, other than he had blue eyes and a cleft chin. (He must have, no one on her mom's side does.)

Well, she also knew the story of how they met and apparently fell in love. Her mother once told her that he had just arrived in London for work when she first met him. He asked her out straight away and they dated the whole time (one and a half months, pretty long business trip) that he was there.

However, he never had the chance to learn that his love (as Trace liked to think) was pregnant. He died in a car crash. They never recovered his body because the car had caught on fire and was completely burned by the time it was put out.

Trace was pulled out of the memory when the bell rang.

As she was walking to her next class, physics, she couldn't help but notice that Todd was heading to the same classroom. She smirked and thought about the kiss they shared earlier. No doubt he would stare at her throughout class.

And he didn't disappoint. The two spent the whole time playing some twisted game. Trace would stare dreamily off in space or lean onto her desk so her body would be facing the boy. He would then stare at her.

Every few minutes she would glance over at Todd and plaster a look of pure annoyance on her face, causing him to look away, blushing.

As much enjoyment that Trace got out of her activity, she was still relieved when the bell finally rang and school was over. As soon as the two exited into the hallway, Todd followed Trace to her locker, managing to look like a lost puppy.

As she fed the combination to her lock, Trace said without looking up, "Quit following me, unless you want a real beating."

Todd, determined not to be scared away, took a moment to gather the courage needed to speak. After putting some books from the locker to her bag, she looked at him and said, "Look, I don't have all day to stand around waiting for you to talk. So either say what you gotta say or beat it."

After swallowing, he asked in a rushed voice, "Wouldyoumaybewannagooutwithme?"

The girl knew exactly what he said and took a second to smile before pretending to think hard about it. After a minute, she couldn't keep up the charade and replied, "Nah, I don't think so," before walking away, chuckling.

Todd was left standing in the middle of the hall, feeling (and looking) much like a kicked puppy. After Trace disappeared from his view, he snapped out of his trance, sighed, and, shoulders slumped, turned and left.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Trace was feeling pretty happy as she left the school. She had managed to do virtually no work during any of her classes, got next to no homework, and was able to torment (and kiss) a poor boy. She grinned, thinking of that kiss.

_He's pretty cute, but you gotta have more than looks to catch Trace Peterson_. All too soon, she had reached her new home. It was the home of her dear, old Aunt Clarice. Not that she was dear or old.

No, she's her mother's younger sister. And she was not at all the person Trace wanted to stay with after the accident. Unfortunately, Clarice was her only living relative.

The woman wouldn't be so bad if she had a job and wasn't a drunk. But no, Clarice had gotten all of Grandfather's money because she was his baby girl, and she now wasted it on alcohol.

After a minute, Trace had turned up the drive and was standing outside the front door. _Hopefully she'll be passed out or something and will leave me alone_.

Silently, she slowly opened the front door and peered inside. No such luck. Clarice was awake and watching tv. Not to mention that she looked to be on her four, five, sixth bottle of whatever she bought this time.

Trace silently crept into the room. As soon as she had closed the door, the girl ran straight to the back of the house, turned left, and went into her bedroom where she closed and locked the door.

After breathing a sigh of relief that she made it safely, she sat down at her desk and pulled out her homework.

The teenager attempted to get to work, but schoolwork always had bored her. She kept finding her mind drifting and struggled to concentrate. Procrastination always was a weak point of hers. After two and a half hours, Trace finally finished an hour's worth of homework.

As she sat back, glad to have that over with, she heard her stomach growl. Frowning, the girl walked over to her door and listened intently. Hearing her aunt's snores, she decided to venture out of her room.

Carefully, Trace opened the door and walked to the kitchen. After looking in the cabinets, she settled for making pasta. She cooked as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake her aunt and listen to her scream nonsense.

Once her dinner was ready, the teenager poured some milk (that she bought herself) and sat down at the table. She ate in silence, aside from the snores and sounds of the tv.

When she finished, she put the dish in the sink and went back to her room. Glancing out her window, the girl saw how dark it had gotten. After closing and locking her door to be safe, Trace decided to sneak out for a while.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Torchwood a loud alarm was going off.

Captain Jack Harkness came out of his office and descended the stairs while asking, "What've we got, Tosh?"

The small Japanese woman never looked up from one of her numerous computer screens while replying, "Seven weevil sightings throughout Cardiff."

Jack, annoyed yet impressed by the number, let out a whistle. "Seven, huh?"

He clapped his hands together, "Looks like we've got a big night ahead of us. We'll break into two teams, hopefully that'll speed things up. Owen and Gwen, you two get the three farthest south. Tosh, Ianto, we'll wrangle the rest."

They all proceeded to run out of the hub, hoping that no one gets hurt.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Since Trace's aunt's house was one story, it would be pretty easy to sneak out. Trace put her leather jacket, previously discarded onto her floor, on and grabbed her wallet and keys to be safe. She then grabbed a belt, opened her window, and climbed out.

Trace carefully laid the buckle of the belt on the other side of the window sill and closed the window. This way, she could open it whenever she returned with no problems, and wouldn't have to worry about a cold room.

After walking for a few minutes, Trace found herself outside of her new neighborhood. Not knowing the town, she decided to just walk around aimlessly.

The girl had been enjoying herself, walking around in the dark of night, feeling the cool wind on her face. She kept at it for close to two hours.

She had been contemplating the idea of trying to climb onto the roof of a building (she likes heights, her mother could never understand why) when she heard a strange noise coming from the nearby alley.

Trace stopped and stood completely still, listening. She soon heard the noise again. Even though she wasn't sure what it was, it could have been someone who was injured, so the girl stepped into the alley.

She walked slowly, cautiously, softly calling out, "Hello? Is anyone there? Hello? I'm not here to hurt you."

Trace had been nearing the other end of the alley when some kind of beast burst out from behind some trash and attacked her.

She was taken by surprise and did not move when the thing jumped on top of her. It took a minute for her brain to process what was taking place.

Once she realized what was going on, Trace panicked. She screamed and tried to fight the monster that was clawing and biting at her.

She had somehow managed to get out from under it and hastily stood up, feeling dizzy immediately. But before she could run, the thing clawed at her again. She could feel the deep cuts the creature was creating. Without any warning, it had suddenly grabbed Trace and threw her against the brick wall.

Trace tried desperately to hold onto consciousness, but found it becoming more and more difficult. She could hear people, she hoped it was people, running towards the thing that attacked her.

Just as two pairs of shoes came into her line of sight, Trace Peterson passed out.

Gwen and Owen had been searching for their last weevil when they heard a commotion in an alley. Running towards the noise, the sight of the weevil attacking a girl came into view.

As they got closer, the two saw it throw the girl aside. "Owen," Gwen started.

"I know," he replied, "But we've gotta get _that_ first."

Closing the distance between themselves and the weevil, the two Torchwood members tried to get close enough to spray it. Each, in their own time, saw the girl lying unconsciously against the cold, brick wall with several deep wounds oozing blood.

It took another ten minutes to take the creature down and as soon as he was sure that it was down for the count, Owen turned to the girl.

Confused, the medic called out, "Gwen?"

"Yeah?" came her reply as she was still dealing with dragging the weevil out of the alley.

"Where did the girl go?" Owen asked, trying to stay calm.

"What do you mean?" she asked, finally looking up, confusion across her face.

"Well, I do remember a girl being passed out over here before, however she's not here _now_."

The weevil moved suddenly in a struggling Gwen's arms, and the two decided to just bring it straight back to the Hub, along with the other two they caught.

As soon as all the weevils were contained properly in the Hub, Gwen and Owen told Jack about the girl that seemed to just vanish.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The next morning, as Trace walked reluctantly to school, her thoughts turned to ponder the previous night's events. She remembered leaving her belt in the window when she snuck out and walking around for hours.

She remembered hearing that strange noise in an alley and stupidly going down it. Then that weird creature attacked her. Trace could remember the pain as it bit and clawed at her before throwing her aside.

Then those two pairs of feet showed up and she passed out. She couldn't have been out long though, because, when she awoke, the man and woman that the feet belonged to were still fighting that thing. All Trace had known was that she needed to get out of there.

So, as quietly as she could, the teenager had crawled to the end of the alley she had entered from and around the corner. As soon as she was sure she was out of sight, the girl had run. She remembered running all the way to her bedroom window, opening it, flying inside, slamming it shut, and collapsing on her bed.

When she woke up the next morning, Trace would have considered it all a dream if it hadn't been for the huge tears and bloodstains on her clothes. Other than that, however, there had been no evidence that it even ever took place. There was not even a scratch on the girl's body. She had then quickly taken a shower and dressed before heading out to school.

When the school came into view, Trace sighed. That jacket was her favorite. There was no way to repair it, though. All too soon, she was inside the building, daydreaming through her lessons.

As soon as it was lunchtime, Trace practically ran to get her lunch. After she procured her food, she decided to head to the courtyard outside.

The teenager had been sitting at a picnic table eating in relative silence until Todd Smith appeared five minutes before the bell.

"What do you want?" she asked him, clearly annoyed.

However, he was not going to be intimidated this time. "I want to know if you will go out with me."

"No," she said bluntly.

"Don't you like me?"

"No."

"At all?"

"No."

"Not even a little?"

"No."

Todd was starting to lose his confidence. "Then why'd you kiss me?"

Trace answered smugly, "Because I can."

The boy was starting to get annoyed now. "So you just go around kissing people just because you can?"

The bell rang. Trace stood up and said, "Yup," before heading inside.

* * *

Jack and Gwen had gone out to pick up some lunch for the team. On their way back to the Hub, they passed by the fenced-in school courtyard.

Gwen had been glancing at all the kids when a particular girl caught her eye. "Jack, that's her! That's the girl!"

Jack, who understood what she was talking about, immediately turned to look at the girl she was pointing at. The teenager was tall, had short brown hair and blue eyes, and looked almost familiar to the immortal. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that the bell rang and she went inside.

However, the two adults noticed that the boy this mysterious girl had been talking to was still standing there. So, Jack decided to try and talk to him.

"Hey! You, boy!" he called out.

The young man in question turned to look at the strangers curiously.

"Yeah, you! Come over here," Jack said.

Startled, the boy walked over.

"Yes sir?" he asked timidly.

"What's your name, son?" the Captain asked.

"Todd. Todd Smith, sir."

"Okay, Todd, what can you tell me about that girl you were talking to?" he inquired.

The boy looked nervous. "I don't think I should be talking to-"

He stopped as Jack showed him a badge.

"Oh, okay. Umm, her name's Trace Peterson. She just moved here from London, I think," Todd told the pair.

"Thanks kid," Jack said as he turned and started to walk away.

"You've been very helpful," Gwen quickly added before running to catch up to her boss.

Todd, realizing he was late, ran to class wondering what the hell just happened.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Newly armed with the name Trace Peterson, Jack and Gwen hurried back to the Hub. On the way over, Jack spoke to Tosh over the comm. system and she set to work searching for any information on the girl.

As soon as the cog door rolled open, Tosh, Owen, and Ianto heard their Captain call out, "Found anything yet?" A few seconds later, he came into view with Gwen right behind him.

The computer genius started spouting out what she learned while Gwen set the food down on her own desk.

"Name Trace Emma Peterson, female, born June 16th, 1991 in London, England. Mother Anne Marie Peterson, born September 26th, 1965 in London, England, died December 28th, 2007."

Jack paled at the name Anne Marie, though no one took notice. After hearing the date of death, Gwen commented, "That was last month!"

Tosh continued as if she hadn't been interrupted, "No father on record."

Owen interrupted then with a snort before saying, "Probably got knocked-up during a one-night stand."

Ignoring the medic, Toshiko kept going. "Currently resides with her mother's younger sister, Clarice Jane Peterson here in Cardiff. Has no other living relatives.

"She receives adequate grades in school and has a knack for getting into trouble," she finished.

Everyone turned to their leader, who was staring off into space, and finally took notice of how pale he was. "Jack, are you alright?" Gwen asked him, both curious and worried.

Jack managed to snap out of his thoughts and gave his team his trade-mark grin. "Of course I'm okay. Now, Tosh, do you think you could set it up so we can watch this kid?"

The young woman nodded, already typing away, and replied, "Already on it."

"Good," the Captain stated, "Now let's eat this food before it gets cold. Ianto, how about some coffee?"

* * *

Three days later, Jack knew the girl's basic daily routine like the back of his hand.

She seemed to run out of her house around 7:30 in the morning and walk slowly to school. From the few cameras around campus, he could tell that she was friendly, but seemed to keep to herself.

After school she would walk back to her house, taking her sweet time about it. Once she would finally reach the front door, she'd zoom inside. Then, around 9 or 10, the girl would sneak out of her bedroom window and walk around town for a few hours.

The Captain had been so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice when Ianto entered his office and set down a fresh cup of coffee.

"Sir?"

Jack jumped, startled, before realizing who had spoken.

"Yes, Ianto?"

The Welshman asked cautiously, "Are you alright, sir?"

Jack grinned and replied, "Yeah. Just thinking about some things that happened years ago. Is that fresh?"

Ianto nodded his head. "Is there anything else I can get you, sir?"

After taking a sip of the coffee, the Captain started shaking his head before speaking. "No, but can you tell the others not to make any plans tonight?"

He nodded his head agian. "Yes, sir. Why, may I ask?"

Jack then sighed before replying, "I think it's time we meet this kid."

The team stood in the shadows down the street from the girl's home. 15 seconds after 10, the five saw her walk around the corner of her house and towards the street.

They waited in silence for just the right moment to make themselves known. As soon as she had passed them, Jack gave a small nod and everyone stepped out of the dark and into the warm glow of a street light.

When she heard footsteps behind her, Trace stopped walking and turned around. Jack couldn't help but notice that while she was outwardly calm, her clear blue eyes were guarded.

The two took a moment to stare at the other.

Then Jack stepped up to the girl, smiled, stuck his hand out and said, "Captain Jack Harkness."

He watched intently as she eyed him and his team.

When she still refused his hand, the Captain added, "Torchwood."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Jack watched as Trace suddenly grinned, grabbed his hand, and replied, "Jenny Bennett, Driftwood."

The entire team was startled to hear her strong American accent. However, it only strengthened a growing suspicion of Jack's.

Not to be put off, the Captain said, "Now it's not nice to lie."

"Who says I'm lying?" came the teen's quick remark.

Jack allowed himself to give a small chuckle. "I'm afraid I am. You see, it's our duty at Torchwood to know people's names, and yours is definitely not Jenny Bennett."

He watched as she gave a small nod.

"Oh, I see," Trace said slowly before taking off down the street.

The team stared after her in shock for a few seconds before turning to Tosh.

"Where's our girl headed?" Jack nonchalantly asked the computer whiz as the group headed to their SUV.

Using a piece of technology that latches onto a heat signature and tracks it, Toshiko started spouting out different street names.

As the Captain was putting the car in drive, everyone came to the realization that she was heading straight for Roald Dahl Plass. They all grinned at the irony of it.

The team easily beat Trace to the Plass and dropped Jack off in front of the water tower.

"See you guys inside," he said before waving them off. Once the SUV was out of sight, he stepped gracefully onto the slab with the filter and calmly waited for his guest.

A few minutes later, the Captain watched as the girl finally came into view. She came to a stop just a few feet short of him to catch her breath.

Once her breathing was under control, Jack decided to step off the slab.

Surprised at the stranger's appearance, Trace fell backwards. She quickly gathered herself and narrowed her eyes at the man. "Where'd you come from?"

With a grin, Jack replied casually, "I had been standing right there for a few minutes now."

"How come I couldn't see you, then?" she asked while picking herself up off the ground.

He shrugged and said, "Perception filter."

The immortal was starting to feel a tiny bit uncomfortable under the teen's gaze when she finally spoke again. "Why would you need that? And on one specific slab?"

Jack's trade-mark grin came back, instantly reminding Trace of someone she knew, and he told her, "I can show you if you want."

He stepped back onto the slab and the girl hesitantly followed. She watched curiously as he hit a few buttons on his wrist strap and they started moving down.

Although Trace felt a bit unstable on it, there was no way that she was going to hold on to that man for safety.

She was very grateful when they reached the bottom of the huge underground room. Jack stepped off the lift first and graciously offered his hand.

The Captain watched as the girl ignored his outstretched hand and jumped off on her own. He had to admit that hurt. Just a little. He quickly shook it off, though, and introduced her to the waiting team.

"Alright. You already know who I am. This is Gwen Cooper, she keeps us human. Owen Harper, our sarcastic medic. Toshiko Sato, resident computer genius. And Ianto Jones; he keeps us going and makes a mean cup of coffee."

During the introductions, the teen studied the people around her with sharp eyes.

When Jack finished speaking, she said, "Well, I guess this means I have to tell you who I am."

"No need," the Captain interrupted. When she simply stared at him, he continued. "Trace Emma Peterson, born June 16th, 1991 in London, England."

He was about to give all the info they'd learned about her when she interrupted him. "Okay, fine, you know who I am. Now why don't you enlighten me as to why I'm here?"

Jack couldn't help but grin once again. "You, Trace Peterson, made Gwen and Owen question their own sanity a few nights ago."

Looking unimpressed, the girl asked, "How so?"

Gwen chose to jump in at this point. "We saw you being attacked by a weevil. You were thrown against a wall and passed out. Once we contained it, Owen went to look at you and you were gone."

Still calm, Trace replied, "Sorry, I don't recall anything like that ever happening."

While those two were talking, Jack had started to piece everything together in his head. Her looks, her attitude, her ability to be hurt pretty bad only a few days ago and be standing here unscathed, her accent, her mother, her birthday.

Suddenly, everything snapped into place and he realized that his suspicions had to be correct. He also knew that if this girl is who he thinks she is, then there's only one way possible to deal with her.

Gwen was just starting to get upset, insisting that it was her, when Jack interrupted.

"I'll make a deal with you. Tell us what you remember of that night, and I'll tell you who your father is."

Ignoring the looks he was getting from his team, Jack stared straight into Trace's eyes.

The girl's mask slipped and she looked shocked. She stared back into the Captain's eyes while regaining her composure.

Once the mask was firmly back in place, Trace looked away. "It doesn't matter who he _was_, he's dead now. Has been since before I was born."

Jack's lopsided grin showed that he was getting a bit frustrated, but he was not to be put off. "What if I told you that he wasn't? That he survived that crash? That he's alive?"

This was becoming too much to bear, so Trace hurriedly turned away from him to try and regroup.

While her back was turned, the forgotten team pulled Jack aside and started laying into him.

"What do you think you're at?" "What are you trying to do?" "How can you lie to her face?"

Owen, Gwen, and Tosh's comments overlapped each other.

When they stopped to breathe, Ianto spoke up. "How do you know he died in a crash if there was no father on record?"

Surprised, the three who were previously talking turned to stare at the Welshman, who in turn stared at Jack.

The Captain noticed that Trace had turned back around and quickly replied, "I'll tell you later. I promise," before heading back to the teen.

"So?" he asked.

The girl calmly replied, "Okay."


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"Why don't we move into the boardroom? We'll all be more comfortable there," Jack said.

He silently led them inside and everyone sat down. Jack found himself at one end with Trace at the other. To Jack's left was Owen and Tosh; to his right, Gwen and Ianto.

Once everyone was comfortably seated, Trace started recounting the night of the weevil attack, her eyes focused on the table in front of her.

"I had snuck out, as I'm sure you all know. I had been walking around town for a few hours when I heard some noise coming from this alley. I was curious, so I went down to see if I could help or something.

"This thing, a weevil, jumped out and attacked me. It took me a minute to realize what was happening, and once I did, I screamed and fought back. It grabbed my arm and threw me against the wall.

"As I was loosing consciousness, I saw two pairs of shoes approach the creature. When I regained consciousness, I saw those two fighting that thing and I didn't want to draw its attention again.

"So, as quietly as I could, I crawled to the end of the alley, went around the corner, then ran home. When I woke up the next morning, I thought it was all a dream until I noticed that my clothes were torn and bloodstained, but I didn't have a scratch on me.

"And that's it." She glanced around at the team before settling her gaze on Jack.

"Now, I believe you said that my father is alive, and you know who he is?"

The Captain nodded slowly before speaking. "Yes. He was in London for business. It was top-secret. No one was supposed to know that he was there. But one night, he met your mother."

Everyone watched as a small smile appeared on their leader's face.

"He hooked up with her and found that he actually liked her. So he saw her again, and again, and again. But no one was supposed to know that he was in London.

"He had just finished what he was there to do and was driving out to meet your mother to celebrate. He was also trying to figure out how to say good-bye."

His smile disappeared as he started telling the next part.

"He was approaching a curve in the road and the brakes failed when he tried to slow down. He crashed. The car caught on fire; so did he. It took a minute, but he managed to escape the car.

"He had just somehow managed to get the fire that spread across his body out when a thought struck him. This…accident was the perfect way out. There was no way someone could have survived it, and he wouldn't have to deal with good-byes."

Jack could no longer deal with looking at Trace, who was staring intently at him, so he settled on looking down at the table.

"So he left. He went back to Cardiff and moved on with his life."

He chanced a glance at the girl's face. It frustrated him that he could not tell what she was thinking.

After a minute, Trace decided to break the silence that was surrounding them. "And his name?"

The Captain looked her straight in the eyes. "Captain Jack Harkness, at your service."

The room was dead silent. Jack and Trace stared at each other, unreadable looks on both of their faces.

Tosh stared at Jack, surprise written across her face. Owen looked at the teen, taking in all the similarities. Gwen looked between the two, her mouth gaping as she tried to form a coherent thought.

Ianto gazed calmly down at the table. He had suspected as much.

After a few minutes, Trace could feel her mask slipping again and tore her eyes from that man. She settled for staring at the floor off to her right.

Without looking away from his _daughter_, Jack said, "Owen, Gwen, Toshiko, Ianto, go."

Gwen started to protest, "But Jack!"

"Now!" he replied, still not looking away.

The four silently got up and left. With the late hour, they all decided to just head home.

The room was once again filled with a heavy, tense silence. Jack was still gazing at Trace, who was in turn looking at the floor.

Just when the quiet was getting to the Captain, the teen spoke up.

"Mum always said I was my father's daughter." She slowly looked up at him, her face still showing no emotions.

She was a bit surprised inside that his did not either. She just looked at him for a moment before continuing.

"She said that I had his eyes, his hair, his swagger, his attitude, some of his mannerisms; but how could I have his accent?"

Jack watched as she fell silent again. "I'm not from this time."


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Trace just stared at him. So he elaborated.

"I'm from the 51st century. By that time period, certain things had…evolved, you could say."

Jack smiled a little. "One thing that changed was where, or how, people got their accents. They didn't come from where you lived, but who you were. They were, are, inherited."

He wasn't sure what kind of reaction he would get from the girl. Perhaps surprise, confusion, disbelief. But he definitely wasn't prepared for what she was about to say.

"How did you end up here?"

Jack was surprised. He couldn't tell for sure if she believed him or not, but he could tell that she was curious.

"I was part of this group called the Time Agency. I worked with them for quite a while. But one day I realized that they had stolen 2 years of my memories."

He grew silent, remembering how he felt at the time. Not wanting the man to stop there, Trace spoke up. "What did you do?"

The Captain looked back at the girl before responding, "I left. I became a conman. I was doing pretty decent when I met these two incredible people. The Doctor and Rose."

Trace watched as the man who claimed to be her father smiled once more.

"I ended up traveling with them. One day we found ourselves on this space station. I fought with them. I, I died for them."

The teen interrupted him. "If you died, how could you be here, now?"

"Rose did something. It's hard to explain. But she brought me back to life. However, she couldn't control it, and ended up bringing me back for good. I, I can't die. I get injured, I heal…fast. I die, I come back. I guess that somehow got passed on to you."

Trace nodded slowly, taking all that information in. "Okay. But how did you end up _here_, in Cardiff?"

Jack sighed before continuing. "When I woke up, I was alone. The Doctor had left me. I used this," he held up his wrist with his wrist strap, "To hop back in time to try and find him.

"I ended up in Cardiff, at the end of the 19th century. This thing died on me, and I was stuck. So I've been living here, and working for Torchwood, ever since."

Trace looked away. "Right. Okay," she said.

Jack stood up and walked over to the girl. He knelt down so he was at her current eye level.

"If I had known that your mother was pregnant, I would never have left like that. I swear."

She looked over at him, a wry smile on her face. "It doesn't matter now. Does it?"

Out of curiosity, Jack asked, "How did it happen?"

Trace knew exactly what he meant. "Car accident. Ironic, isn't it?"

"What happened?" he pressed again.

He watched as the teen's brow furrowed, and she said, "Why ask me? You could easily look it up with all your resources," before looking away.

The Captain gently put his hand under her chin and made her look at him. "I want to hear it from you."

The girl stared him in the eye for a minute before sighing. "We had gone to the theatre. It was storming as we drove home. Something happened, and my mum lost control of the car.

"It skidded, slid across the road. Rolled three times before coming to a stop upside down. When I stopped screaming, I unbuckled myself. I moved around so I could see my mum. I knew instantly that she was gone.

"So I shifted around again and tried to crawl out through the broken window. But I was trapped, though I'm not sure how. I had to wait for help to arrive to move anymore. When they finally helped me out and looked me over, I had no major injuries.

"They said I should be happy for the miracle that saved my life. Whatever it was."

She snorted. "How could I be happy that I was alright when my mum was dead?"

Trace fell silent again. Jack then quietly asked her, "What happened then?"

"What do you think happened?" she snapped. "We had a funeral, and I came here to live with dear, old Aunt Clarice," she added sarcastically.

Jack started to say, "I'm so, so…" when Trace interrupted him. "What time is it?"

He glanced wearily at his watch. "About 1 AM. Why?"

"I need to get back to my Aunt's house," she replied. _That place will never be home_, she thought.

Jack offered to drive the girl, but she flat out refused. "I can walk."

Even though they only knew about each other's existence for a few hours, Jack could not, in good conscious, let her walk across town at this hour.

"I'm driving you." he stated firmly, leaving no room for objection.

The two stared at one another for a moment before Trace spat out, "Fine."

The two spent the entire ride in silence. When they finally pulled up in front of the house, Jack turned to say something only to find that Trace had already gotten out of the SUV.

He watched her round the house before heading back to the Hub.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Once Jack got back to the Hub, he started researching Trace's aunt. He hadn't missed the way she said "dear, old Aunt Clarice" and her "aunt's house."

Jack spent all night with his research. It would have gone a lot smoother if Tosh hadn't updated the program for the umpteenth time that week.

By the time Ianto strolled in the next morning, Jack had found all the information he could and wasn't too happy.

Ianto, picking up on the Captain's mood, quickly made some industrial-strength coffee before asking what was wrong.

Jack took a long sip of the hot beverage before answering.

"Clarice Jane Peterson, born February 10th, 1968 in London, England. Younger sister to Anne Marie Peterson. Received average grades in school.

"Married Ralph Smith at age 18. The couple moved to Cardiff, Wales in '88. One year later the two divorced. Seems to have had a drinking problem since '87. Last job held was three years ago. Is currently living off the money she inherited when her father died."

Jack paused and, with a sigh, concluded, "And is currently Trace's legal guardian."

Ianto suddenly understood why Jack was so unhappy. "And you're afraid that the drinking problem may affect her."

The Captain nodded. "Yan, what should I do? What _can_ I do?"

The Welshman opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off.

"Maybe I should go over there and see them. Talk to them. You know, find out what their living conditions are like?"

Ianto, while amused, quickly interrupted his boss before he could go any further.

"Personally, sir, I believe you should take a few days to think about this calmly and rationally. You and Miss Peterson only discovered each other last night.

"You may be able to accept it straight away, but she is a teenager. She's going to need some time to get used to the idea before you go barging into her life."

Jack, who by this time had been posed to grab his coat and run out the door, fell back into his chair and put his head in his hands.

"You're right, Yan. It _is_ an awful lot to take in. How long do you think I should wait?"

Ianto studied the calendar on his phone before answering. "Well, seeing as today is Friday, why not wait until, say, Wednesday?"

When he saw that Jack was going to protest, he added, "That should be sufficient time for the both of you to come to terms with this discovery, sir."

Jack could only nod.

* * *

By Wednesday, Trace was feeling pretty good. Sure, she had needed to get used to the idea of her father being _alive_, and from the _future_ no less, but at least he hadn't been pestering her.

No, it was quite the opposite. Trace had not seen or heard from the man since the night she met him.

Unfortunately, on her walk to school, her luck changed. She had been perhaps five blocks from the school when she heard someone walking behind her.

The teen stopped and turned around, unsurprised to be looking at Captain Jack Harkness.

"Any particular reason you're following me?" she asked with an eyebrow raised, yet un-amused.

Jack smiled softly and answered, "Look, I'd really like to get to know you. I was thinking that I could come to your place and have dinner with you and your aunt tonight."

"No thanks." Trace went to turn around, but the Captain grabbed her arm.

"I wasn't really asking. I'll be at your house around, say, 5:30. Tell your aunt to expect company."

Once again, he stopped her from turning around. He easily slid a card into the girl's hand.

Seeing the confused expression upon the girl's face, he elaborated. "It's my number. Just in case you need to reach me. For anything."

With that, he finally let her go.

Trace ended up spending all morning staring at the card. She did not hear a word her teachers said. By lunch, she was desperately trying to think of ways to avoid this dinner.

Her sandwich had been halfway to her mouth when the perfect plan popped into her head.

Glancing up, she saw Todd in his, now usual, seat across from her. While the boy still wanted to date her, he decided last Friday to spend every lunch talking to her in the hopes of becoming, at the very least, friends.

He never gave up, not even when he realized that Trace completely ignored his mindless chatter. And, for the first time, she was grateful for that.

"Hey, Todd."

The boy in question suddenly stared at her with his mouth hanging open.

Realizing how ridiculous he must look, he quickly squeaked out, "Yeah?" before rapidly closing his mouth.

"You're taking me out tonight. I'll meet you outside the movie theatre at 5."

While Todd was ecstatic that she had finally agreed, he also felt suspicious.

"Wait a minute. So, you can kiss me and tell me that you have no interest in me whatsoever one week and the next _you_ ask _me_ out?"

"Yup," came the girl's response.

"Does this mean you actually like me?"

"No."

"Wait, then why am I taking you out?"

"Because I said so."

Todd was really confused. "Let me get this straight. I have to take you out even though you don't like me because you said I have to?"

The bell rang. Trace stood up and said sarcastically, "Glad you understand," before heading inside.

"Well, at least it's a chance," he mumbled to himself before following everyone back to class.

Trace walked to class feeling happy. She would spend the evening out (with Todd, but she could always ditch him) and would _not_ tell her aunt about Jack coming to dinner.

There was no way Clarice would let a stranger into the house, let alone speak with him.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

As soon as school had let out, Trace ran back to her aunt's house. After cautiously sneaking in and closing and locking her bedroom door, she carelessly dropped her bag on the floor and flopped onto her bed. She took a few minutes to contemplate her ingenious plan and to imagine the look on Captain Harkness' face when Aunt Clarice would, undoubtedly, slam the door in his face.

Trace frowned, however, when she thought of having to watch a movie with that boy, Todd. _You can always ditch him_, she reminded herself. She glanced at her clock and sighed. While she still had some time before meeting Todd, Trace decided to go ahead and leave.

After exiting through her bedroom window (seeing as she'll probably spend time wandering around afterwards just to be safe), the teen slowly made her way through town to the movie theater. Once she arrived, she leaned casually against the cold wall of the building and waited.

About ten minutes later, she looked up to see her "date" rushing towards her. Trace couldn't help but chuckle at the lad. He had apparently decided to change his outfit after school, as he was now wearing a nice pair of blue jeans, a green button-down shirt, a sports coat, and nice shoes. Not to mention the fact that his hair, which usually hung in his eyes, was brushed neatly out of his face.

Todd slowed as he approached the girl and he nervously held his hand out. Trace looked at it quizzically and wondered how she could have missed the red rose he was holding.

_This kid's not gonna give up, is he? _Trace took the flower from him with one eyebrow raised. He shifted nervously under her gaze and hurriedly asked what she wanted to see. She shrugged and told him anything action-adventure-y. So, he bought two tickets to a movie of that genre, some popcorn, and two sodas before they went to find the perfect seats.

Trace picked out two seats dead center and the two sat down. Todd seemed to have some trouble deciding what to do with the popcorn which was annoying Trace to no end. After another minute, she finally took the popcorn roughly from him and put the bucket in her own lap.

When she looked over at him, the poor boy turned red and avoided her gaze.

Once the movie finally started, the two settled into a comfortable pattern of taking turns reaching for some popcorn (Well, she had to make sure their hands would never be near each other's). About twenty minutes into the film, the action started, but the teens were unimpressed.

It all started about fifteen minutes later, when Trace couldn't take it anymore. She whispered a sarcastic response to one of the character's questions and Todd suppressed a smile. As the movie continued, her comments became more and more regular and grew funnier and funnier. Soon her "date" couldn't take it anymore and laughed.

She looked over at him, eyebrows raised, amused, and imitated the main character. Todd laughed again, and did his own impression. Surprisingly, the boy was good and made Trace chuckle. Not long after, they had each other laughing so hard their sides hurt.

Five minutes later, an usher appeared and told them to keep it down. The two became silent, for a while at least. It wasn't long before they started up again, only quieter. They kept at it throughout the entire movie.

When they exited the building over an hour later, the two agreed that it was the worst film they had ever seen, and Todd surprised the girl by asking if she wanted pizza.

Trace glanced at her watch. It was only around seven-thirty. She knew that by now, her "father" had to, after being turned away by her aunt, be long gone, but, just to be safe, she agreed. As they started walking towards the pizzeria, she was startled when her stomach growled. Maybe she really was hungry after all.

* * *

While Trace and Todd were joking throughout the movie, Jack drove up to Clarice's home. He mentally prepared himself for whatever was about to happen and walked up to the door.

The Captain rang the bell and stepped back, waiting patiently to be let in. When nothing happened, he tried the bell again. A minute later, he rang it a third time and started to wonder if Trace was skipping out on their dinner like he considered she might.

Just as he pushed the buzzer a fourth time, the door swung open, and Jack was met by a very angry, drunk woman.

"Who the hell are you? Ringing my doorbell? What the hell do you think you're doing? Go away and leave me alone, you son of a bitch! Just what the hell are you thinking?"

Captain Harkness took a step back and winced at the woman's reaction. He knew this had to be Clarice, as she looked just like Anne Marie. She was around 5'4", curvy, had long, brown hair, dull, grey eyes, high cheekbones, and a button nose.

The woman continued to yell at him, now threatening to call the police, as he tried to get a word in edgewise.

"I'm Cap- I'm Ja- I'm here to- I know Tr- Didn't she tell…" Jack suddenly got the picture. He knew that Trace hadn't told Clarice he was coming; he doubted the girl was even there. But that wasn't going to stop the Captain from speaking with his daughter's aunt.

"If you will please just listen to…" Jack trailed off when the door was slammed in his face.

Harkness closed his eyes and took a deep breath before saying to the closed door, "I'm Trace's father."

He jumped back when the door suddenly flew open.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

When the two teens had finished off the pizza they ordered, Trace found that she was truly enjoying Todd's company. She quickly looked at her watch and saw that it was only about a quarter after eight.

In order to prolong returning to her aunt's house, she and Todd started wandering around town with no real destination in mind.

The moon was full, casting a magnificent silver glow onto all the buildings, streets, signs, and cars. They soon found themselves alone down a quiet street with small businesses that were all closed for the night.

The two had just reached a quaint, low, one-story building when Trace suddenly stopped. Todd, realizing that he was the only one walking, turned around and opened his mouth to ask what was wrong.

Before he could form the words, the girl said, "Let's climb onto the roof."

Todd stared at her for a moment before replying, "The roof? Why on earth would you want to go up there?"

He watched as she shrugged her shoulders and told him it's calming. Once again, the boy found himself staring at her in disbelief.

"Come on, it'll be fun," she told him before walking around the shop to a back alley. She chuckled to herself when Todd slowly followed her, a confused look on his face. Trace soon located a closed dumpster and climbed up on it.

She turned to her companion and asked, "Coming?" before jumping, grabbing hold of the side of the building, and hoisting herself up.

Todd looked around worriedly, wondering if he should before Trace's head appeared above him and she fixed him with a glare. So, with a sigh, he climbed onto the dumpster and jumped, grabbing the side of the building just as she had done.

However, the boy had no upper-body strength and started to slip. Luckily, Trace was standing over him, and she grabbed his wrists to pull him up. Once Todd was safely on the roof, she let him go and stepped away.

When his breathing and heart rate returned to normal, he glanced over at the girl. He watched as she just stood there, right before the edge, looking out into the night. Todd found himself unable to look away; she was beautiful in the moonlight.

The teens stayed like that for a while, until the captivating silence was interrupted by a horrified scream.

Both pulled out of their respective trances and rushed to the other side of the building, where they cautiously peaked over the edge. What they saw made Todd gasp and Trace grimace.

The two watched as an ugly creature (a weevil, as Trace recalled) stalked its prey, a terrified young man. They looked on in silence for a minute, before the girl finally came to her senses and reluctantly pulled out her cell phone and a card.

* * *

After Clarice had invited Jack inside and offered him a drink (which he turned down), the two sat down in the living room to talk.

"I thought you were dead," Clarice stated.

Jack shifted, a touch uncomfortable, before answering. "It was a freak accident. I managed to get out of the car, but I was hurt, and luckily a passerby saw me and stopped to offer help. I was in the hospital for awhile and suffered some trauma."

The woman just nodded her head, looking uninterested. "Right, so how do you know about the girl?"

The Captain gave a small smile, and told her that they randomly "ran into each other" and after spending a bit of time chatting, he put the pieces together.

He went on, giving many more (mostly made up) details and anecdotes while Clarice's eyes glazed over a bit.

"Okay, so you live here in Cardiff?" she finally interrupted, looking a bit more attentive.

"Yes ma'am," came Harkness' answer.

"You got a job?" the woman asked, squinting her eyes at him.

Once again, Jack answered in the affirmative, "I head an agency which, you could say, aids and protects people." _Depending on how you choose to look at it_, he thought.

Clarice just nodded, reaching for her drink. She had just opened her mouth to ask another question when the Captain's phone rang. Knowing it could be important, Jack excused himself to the hall before answering.

"Harkness." He listened intently, his brow furrowing, for a moment before replying, "I'll be right there."

The man stepped back into the room to apologize and say that there's an emergency at work and he needs to go. As soon as Clarice gestured to him to leave, Jack was out the door and on his comm.

"Gwen, Tosh, Owen, Ianto, we've got a weevil attack, I'll pick you up," he said as he sped away down the street.

* * *

A second horrific scream was heard as Trace hung up, and the girl realized there was no way the team could get there in time to prevent anything bad from happening.

She made a split-second decision before carelessly grabbing the edge of the roof and swinging herself down. As soon as her feet made contact with the ground, she launched herself at the creature with a war cry.

The weevil was startled long enough to be tackled by the girl, but soon it grew angry and got out from under her. The monster swung its arm at her and its claws dug into the teen's shoulder.

Trace cried out and kicked at the thing. Before long the two were engaged in a struggle.

Todd watched with horror as the creature brought its sharp teeth down into his date's side. She gave a strangled scream before the weevil tossed her into a brick wall.

When the girl made no move to get up, and the thing turned back to its original prey, Todd made his own hasty decision. Just as the boy got ready to jump down, a black SUV screeched to a halt at the alley's entrance and five people hopped out.

He recognized two of them as the people who questioned him about Trace the other week. The teen watched as the group quickly brought the strange creature down before noticing that Trace was trying to stand up.

As soon as the monster was rendered immobile and hauled to the trunk of the car, Captain Jack Harkness took notice of his daughter trying to stand up and hurried over to her. He helped her to stand before glancing at the roof that Todd was currently crouched on and shouted, "It's safe; you can come down now."

The Captain watched Ianto secure the weevil in the back of the SUV, Gwen and Tosh tend to the young man on the ground, and Owen run back towards them before he returned his attention to his injured girl.

"Are you okay?" "Are you hurt?" "What were you thinking?" "What happened?" "You weren't thinking, were you?" "Where did it get you?"

The two men's questions overlapped and Trace just looked at the ground. The two realized they should give her a chance to speak, so Jack finished off by repeating, "Are you okay?"


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Trace looked up, trying to smile, and replied, "I think I'll live." Owen shook his head while Jack fixed the girl with a glare. Her face instantly fell.

"What the hell were you thinking? I told you I was coming over to try and get to know you and your aunt. Instead of being welcomed, I find a woman screaming at me, a door slammed in my face, and a call from you reporting trouble!" Jack started chewing her out.

"And when we get here, instead of seeing you out of harm's way, I get the privilege of seeing you lying bloodied, crumpled on the ground with the weevil advancing towards who I'm assuming was its original target! So I repeat, what were you thinking?"

Once the man finally stopped speaking and caught his breath, his eyes were fixed firmly on his daughter. The Captain did not notice his team staring at him with expressions of surprise, compassion, amusement (Owen), and curiosity.

After a minute of silence, Trace looked up from her shoes and stared her father in the eyes. Jack was a bit taken back at how cold they looked. When the girl finally spoke, her voice was low and hard.

"What was I thinking? Hmm. Let's see. Perhaps I was thinking that my estranged father, who decided it would be better to tear my mother's heart out thinking he was dead than to let her down easy about leaving, who's team randomly runs into me, who decides out of nowhere that he _will_ be a part of my life, who decides to try to force his way into my home, does not deserve the honor of being my father.

"Perhaps I thought that rather than suffer through a disastrous dinner with the man who decides to turn my world upside down and my intolerable aunt, it would be better to take off with someone who I am ready and willing to tolerate and have some fun in this town I have been forced to move to.

"And then, when I am actually, truly enjoying myself for the first time since my…what do you think happens? I, once again, run into one of your weevil-things. Now, I could have grabbed Todd and walked away after calling you, but no, I decide to do the honorable thing and try to help that poor man.

"And when you finally decide to come in and save the day, instead of thanking me for my courage, telling me I did good, that you are, god-forbidden, proud of me, you decide to yell at me because I didn't want to deal with _you_.

"So, no. I'm not okay. Knowing that at any moment _you_ could be watching me, at any moment _you_ could appear around the corner or out of the shadows is driving me insane. You say you want to be a part of my life, that you want to be a good father? Well, you can stop trying, because you will _never_ be a _father _to me, nor will you _ever _be a part of _my_ life."

When Trace finished speaking, she grabbed Todd's arm (as he had finally climbed down) and marched out of the alley.

Once the two teens were out of sight, the team turned to look at Jack. Upon seeing the defeated look upon their Captain's face, all of them (including Owen) felt sorry for the man. Owen, Tosh, and a reluctant Gwen headed back toward the SUV while Ianto walked up to Jack, laying his hand on his shoulder.

Wordlessly, Jack let Ianto lead him to the car. Everyone could tell that he was deeply affected by the girl's words when the man wordlessly climbed into the passenger's seat, leaving Owen to drive.

Meanwhile, after Trace had managed to drag her companion about 10 blocks away, she finally stopped.

Todd, who had remained silent the entire way, finally turned to face the girl and opened his mouth to ask if she was okay when he found himself pulled into a deep, needy kiss. However, knowing the circumstances, the boy could not make himself enjoy it. He kissed her back, but only because he knew that she needed this. Kissing was probably the best, and safest, way to get her frustrations out.

After a minute, she finally pulled away due to a lack of oxygen. The two just stood there, panting for breath.

Once her breathing returned to normal, Trace quietly said, "Thanks." When she saw the look of confusion on Todd's face, she clarified. "For not saying anything, for the kiss, for letting me drag you out of there, for everything. You're," she paused for a moment, "You're a good friend. See you tomorrow?"

When the boy nodded his confirmation, she moved to leave before turning around and pecking him on the cheek. Her own cheeks a bit flushed, she finally walked away.

Todd continued to stand there for a minute, watching her retreating form before turning in the direction of his own home. Once he convinced his legs to move, all he could think of was the creature she called a "weevil," of the girl's father, and the fact that she said they were friends.

Trace took her sweet time walking back to her aunt's house. She really just wanted time to think. She couldn't believe what she said to Jack. Yes, a lot of it was true, but the girl was actually secretly thrilled to have some family other than Clarice, and to know where half her DNA comes from? Amazing.

Don't get her wrong. She really was angry with the man. He doesn't ask, he pushes; and if he doesn't push, he takes. But, there was a part of her that wanted to know him. Trace couldn't help but wonder if she ruined all chances of ever having a functioning relationship with her actual father.

For a brief minute, the girl considered calling him, but that idea was quickly squashed. She's too proud to do that. No, if he really wanted to know her as much as he made out to, then _he_ could call _her_.

When Trace finally looked up, she realized that she had reached the house. With a sigh, she started up the sidewalk. However, before she could go off to the back of the house, the front door opened.

Surprised, the teen stopped and watched as her aunt stepped outside, a glass of some kind of alcohol in her hand. That wasn't the worst part: her aunt was smiling. No, she wasn't smiling, she was grinning, triumphantly.

When Clarice waved her in, the girl tensed and cautiously walked up to the door before stepping inside. As her aunt closed the door behind them, Trace noticed several bags in the doorway. Before she could ask what they were for, Clarice spoke.

"I had the most lovely conversation with your father today."

The teen flinched, spun around, and stared at the woman with wide eyes. He actually got inside and they talked? She knew there was no way that could be good.

Her aunt only grinned wider. "Yes, definitely an interesting fellow. And alive, too." Trace resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

That was when Clarice's face changed. The only way the girl could think to describe the look was pure evil. However, instead of continuing her informing little speech, the drunk opened the front door once more, brushed past her niece, and threw the bags out the door one by one before pushing Trace herself outside.

"So now you can go live with him. Have a nice life!" her aunt slurred before slamming the door shut, laughing like a maniac.

Trace stood there, staring at the door, thinking only one thing. _Crap_.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

After taking a minute to process what just happened, Trace grabbed her bags (there were three – one across her shoulder, two smaller ones in her hands) and got out of there before her aunt could decide to do anything else. With a sigh, the teen started wandering through Cardiff.

While walking, Trace started thinking of everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours and it was almost too much. Her shoulder and side were still throbbing from the stupid weevil. She couldn't believe it had barely been an hour ago. Unable and unwilling to continue remembering, she allowed her mind to go blank as she moved aimlessly through the streets.

After awhile, the girl was pulled from her blissfully oblivious state when she recognized where she was heading: the Roald Dahl Plass and Torchwood. Trace came to a stop on the corner across from the water tower, debating what to do when something inside of her snapped.

Filled with uncontrollable rage, and wanting to take it out on the most deserving person, the teen took off towards the tourist shop front. When she reached the door, the girl threw it open, making an unsuspecting Ianto jump behind the counter.

"Where is he?" Trace practically growled at the Welshman. Ianto, nervous because he'd seen Jack's rage and didn't want to get in the man's daughter's way, simply pushed the button and revealed the secret entrance to the Hub.

Seeing the wall move made the girl stop in wonder for a few seconds. However, she soon recovered, dropped her bags, and ran down the stairs and through the cog door.

As soon as she was inside the Hub, Trace's eyes zeroed in on the form of one Jack Harkness. The Captain's back was to the girl, as he was looking down into the autopsy bay watching Owen pretend to work. However, the teen's entrance was not missed by Tosh and Gwen, who stopped what they were doing and stared.

A moment later, in a cold, low voice, Trace said, "You!" Jack stiffened at the sound of his daughter's voice and whirled around, surprise and confusion on his face.

Suddenly the teenager shouted, "IT"S ALL YOUR FAULT!" and lunged at the Captain, her fists swinging.

She landed a few good punches to his cheek and chest before the immortal finally came out of his shock and grabbed her wrists, restraining her. However, that did not deter the girl as she continued to struggle against him.

Trace, her face steadily turning red, continued screaming. "It's ALL your fault! All your DAMN fault! Bastard! It's YOUR fault!"

Out of nowhere, she kneed her father where it hurts, causing him to release her wrists. While he was bent over, the teen managed to get another good punch to his jaw.

The entire team was watching the scene go down. Tosh and Gwen by the desks wide-eyed; Owen grimacing at the top of the stairs to the autopsy bay; Ianto by the cog door with the girl's bags.

Before Trace could get him again, Jack quickly regained composure and once again grabbed her wrists. By now, hot, angry tears were pouring down her cheeks as she continued to struggle in the man's vice-like grip all while shouting how it's his fault.

The Captain realized that he was in unfamiliar territory and looked desperately to his team for help. Owen, looking a cross between amused and actually concerned, shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "Can't help you here." Gwen didn't meet the man's eyes as her own were stuck on the form of the teenager fighting him. Tosh just sadly shook her head.

Jack finally looked to Ianto and noted the bags with confusion before turning his gaze back to the Welshman's face. Ianto maintained eye contact and nodded his head in an encouraging way.

Sighing inwardly, Harkness studied his child. He took in her red, tear-streaked face, her squinted, unseeing eyes. He noticed her voice becoming hoarse and how violently her body was trembling. He also realized that her wounds from earlier, which had just begun to scab over, had blood seeping slowly out.

Staring in despair, the Captain was taken by surprise when Trace suddenly shouted "I HATE YOU!" before pulling out of his grip.

When she turned to leave, Jack couldn't take it anymore. He did the only thing he could think of: he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a tight hug, refusing to let her go. The immortal could feel his daughter fighting relentlessly to get out of the embrace, and in response he pulled her closer, tightening his arms further.

He listened to her hoarse demands to let her go and put his hand on the back of her head, gently moving it under his chin.

After another few minutes of struggling, he finally felt the girl go still, though whether she had given up or fallen to exhaustion the Captain did not know. Jack pulled away just enough so he could look her in her red-rimmed blue eyes when she spoke again.

Trace tiredly said, "It's your…fault. It's your f-fault she…kicked me out," before weakly trying to pull away.

Jack, bewildered, could only reply with a "What?"

The teen replied hoarsely, "Thanks to…your little chat…with Clarice, she…decided that I'm…no longer…her respon…sibility and…kicked me…out of the…house with no…where else to…go."

The Captain felt like his heart had been stomped on by the look on his daughter's face and the resignation in her voice. All he could do was try to apologize. "Trace, I'm so, so sorry. I had no idea that Clarice would do such a-"

But the man was cut off when Trace somehow found the strength to continue her tirade. "How dare you. How DARE you!" she started shouting, forcing the words out of her raw throat.

"How DARE you try to apologize! It's all YOUR fault! You don't THINK! Did you not REALIZE what you'd done? That you've RUINED my LIFE? And you think an APOLOGY will make it all BETTER? NO! Keep your DAMN apologies! I HATE YOU!"

The girl started struggling against Jack again; only she was pulling harder, making the blood from her wounds come faster as she continued screaming at him.

Owen realized that Trace had pretty much reached hysteria. She needed to calm down and those wounds needed caring to, whether or not she was a super-fast healer. It seemed that she had been through a lot that day, and needed time to rest.

Figuring that Jack, whose face had fallen completely by now and looked completely crushed, would agree with him, the medic quickly descended the steps to the autopsy bay and grabbed a sedative.

He ran back up, his actions unnoticed. With a sigh, Owen silently approached the girl from behind. Jack caught his eye, and the immortal's gaze travelled to the syringe in his hand. The Captain's sad eyes found the medic's again and he gave a slight nod.

* * *

Trace's body felt like it was made of lead. Her head was pounding, her throat raw, her eyes were burning and her shoulder and side were killing her. She could vaguely feel hot, angry tears leaking from her eyes, warm, sticky blood, and Harkness' arms around her.

She was exhausted but she had to keep going. She couldn't let that man off the hook; she had to get out of his embrace so she could hit him again. He had to suffer, to feel that pain. She wanted to see him completely broken.

Trace vaguely felt something pierce her skin. She felt odd. Her body suddenly felt heavier than ever before; it was harder to speak; her already blurry vision was blurring further. She managed a final, "I hate-" before giving in to the blackness surrounding her.

* * *

Jack watched the needle go in his daughter's skin. Her movements slowed; her words slurred; finally, the teen collapsed in his arms.

The Captain sunk to the floor and carefully maneuvered the girl so he was sort of cradling her. Owen knelt in front of the man and felt Trace's pulse.

"Heart rate's slowing, should return to normal soon," the medic said as he moved to look at her bleeding wounds. "I'll have to clean these up and bandage them properly, even if she'll be completely healed come tomorrow. You alright, Jack?"

Startled at hearing his name, Harkness brought his eyes up to meet Owen's gaze. The medic wanted to move away at the look in the man's eyes. Jack slowly looked back down at his daughter, only sixteen years old – a baby to the immortal, and whispered, "It's my fault."

Tosh refused to move from her desk, not wanting to see any damage done up-close. Gwen had moved a couple of steps forward, but something was holding her back. Ianto, however, had placed the bags gently on the floor and cautiously moved closer to the three on the floor. The Welshman had been close enough to hear his Captain's words.

"No, it's not."

Both Jack and Owen looked up at the man. The former looked away and simply whispered, "Yes, it is."

Ianto stayed where he was, but softly said, "No, Jack. You had no way of knowing what would happen after meeting her aunt."

"She hates me."

The "tea-boy" sighed, and once again tried to soothe his boss. "No, Jack. She's a teenager. All teenagers tell their parents they hate them. She's just hurt and upset," he paused, "Think about it: she's been hurt physically and mentally, she's been kicked out of her aunt's home, and she comes here. Yes, she tried to beat you to a bloody pulp, but she came here. Consciously or not, Trace Peterson chose to come here, to _you_, Jack. Don't let her down too by letting her words get to you. She needs the Captain Jack Harkness we all know."

"You forgot 'and love,'" came Jack's quiet reply.

Owen snorted, "Yeah, you wish." Jack looked up at his team and gave them a smile. It was nowhere near his usual grin, but it was a start.

"Okay," the Captain took a deep breath, "I'm a bit out of my depth here, so I need suggestions. What's our plan?"


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

For a minute, no one spoke. Finally, Owen opened his mouth. "First things first, Jack, and that's making sure that kid there's alright, even if she will be fine come mornin'."

Jack nodded and carefully picked Trace up before allowing Owen to lead him down to the autopsy bay.

Once they reached the bottom, the medic went to put on gloves while Jack cautiously set the girl down on the table. Jack then brushed some of the short hair out of her face, and sighed, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

Owen, armed with some supplies, turned around and got to work cleaning up the wounds and, at the very least, bandaging them.

Meanwhile, up in the main part of the Hub, the girls went back to their previous tasks, thoroughly distracted, while Ianto headed to the coffee machine knowing everyone was in need of caffeine.

A couple of minutes later, Ianto headed down the steps and set two mugs of the steaming liquid down. He stepped over to where Jack was standing and put his hand on the man's shoulder.

The Captain instantly leaned into the touch and Ianto let him, whispering gently to the older man that there is an empty storage room not too far off the main area that could be cleaned out and used as a room for the girl, provided they get some furniture.

Jack, still staring at the child's face, nodded and quietly replied, "Tomorrow."

After about ten tense minutes, Owen stepped back and said, "Finished. Just gotta sleep off the sedative now." Jack stood up straight and moved to pick Trace up again.

Armed with his daughter, the immortal slowly made his way up to his office, Ianto trailing behind him with his cup of coffee.

With the Welshman's help, Jack managed to get the teenager down into his bunk, where he placed her on his bed and covered her with a blanket.

Vaguely aware of Ianto heading back up the ladder, the Captain just stood there for what felt like hours (but in reality was just a few minutes), watching Trace sleep. His mind could not process what had just taken place and the man had absolutely no clue what would happen once she woke up.

Finally, Jack sighed and headed up the ladder himself, only to be greeted by Ianto and his still-warm coffee. Grabbing the mug, he plopped himself down into his chair and took a long sip, suddenly exhausted.

Ianto gave his leader a minute before answering his unvoiced question. "First thing's first, sir. You must legally become Trace's guardian. To do that, you _will _have to fill out forms, and please don't groan.

"You will also need to notify her school of the change and of the change of her contact information. I will clean out that storage room, but you will need to get furniture to fill it with. Not to mention the fact that you will have to buy actual food to stock the kitchen with and lay down some ground rules with her."

Jack looked up at his faithful employee and took another sip of the amazing coffee before sarcastically asking, "Anything else?"

Sighing, Ianto once again calmed his boss's nerves. "Sir, you can do this. I know you can. I've watched you survive so many things, not to mention read about many others. She is just a teenage girl. If you could handle everything else thrown at you so far, you can survive this.

"Remember, as mad as she may be, she came to you. Consciously or not, she ended up here at the Hub with you, sir. Whenever things feel overwhelming, just remember that. Don't worry about the school or the room; I will handle those things.

"All you need to do is speak with her, sir, when she wakes up. Just remember that she is a human being with her own feelings and you'll do fine. I know you will, sir."

The immortal sighed before asking how many times he was going to call him sir. Instead of waiting for an answer, Jack sighed again and told the younger man to let the team know they could all go home for the night.

He watched as Ianto shook his head softly and left. Once the Hub was as silent as it could get, he let his head fall to the desk and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Jack was rudely awoken by the alarms on the cog door going off. Rubbing his eyes, he made his way out of the office, only to be greeted by the sight of Ianto laden down by a bunch of bags.

Quirking his eyebrow, he asked what all that stuff was. "Food, refrigerated and not, some bottled drinks, and some paper plates and plastic cups and silverware as you are not well-stocked in any of these things," came the Welshman's reply.

"Don't worry, sir, I've got it," Ianto continued sardonically, which caused Jack to jump into action, grabbing a couple of the bags. Relieved of some of the load, Ianto lead his boss into the kitchen.

Once they set the bags down, the younger man made himself busy putting everything in its proper place while his companion watched with a small grin on his face.

Meanwhile, down in Jack's bunker, Trace woke up. Feeling very groggy, she wondered for a minute where the hell she was while rubbing her eyes.

Looking around, her gaze landed on some clothes hanging up on the other side of the tiny room. Recognizing them to be what the Captain always wore, the teenager realized that this must be her _father's_ room, if one could even call it that.

Still a bit groggy, she soon saw the ladder leading up and out. Wanting to be anywhere but here, Trace jumped out of bed before grabbing onto the nearest things to regain her balance. The girl rolled her shoulders, feeling a bit sore, when her eyes caught sight of some slightly bloodied bandages.

Curious, she carefully removed the dressings, only to find soft, smooth skin underneath. Shrugging, she dropped them on the floor and made her way up the ladder. Once she climbed out, Trace almost let out a groan, realizing that she was now in an office.

_This place is like a bloody maze_, she thought to herself before looking out the window. Seeing the main area of the Hub, and taking note that it was empty, the girl cautiously made her way down the stairs.

When she reached the bottom, Trace heard voices. The first she instantly recognized as Jack's, the other sounded kind of like that well-dressed fellow's. Looking around, she let out a quiet sigh, knowing there was no real escape.

If she remembered correctly, the cog door let off an alarm and the lift only worked with the Captain's wrist strap. After a minute, she made up her mind about what to do: she was going to risk the cog door.

However, as she walked towards it, it ended up opening to reveal a very early Owen.

Owen had decided to go into work early that day because, although he would never admit this to anyone, he was worried about that teenage girl and Jack. So, to see her standing there looking completely fine was a huge relief.

The medic didn't want her to know that he had been worried, so upon looking around to see no one else in the main part, he plastered a smirk on his face. "Does Daddy know you're awake yet?"

He realized he hit a still _very_ sore nerve at the look on the kid's face. It was too late to do anything anyway, as Ianto and Jack chose that moment to leave the kitchen. "He does now," Owen said, causing the girl to whirl around.

That proved to be a bad idea when Trace got dizzy. She brought one hand to her head and flung the other arm out to try and steady herself. All three men moved to help her, but Ianto pulled himself back, choosing to stay out of whatever was to come next.

Jack went to grab the arm that was swinging in the air while Owen took the one at her head and put his other hand on her hip to help balance the girl.

Trace glared at the two and Ianto, deciding he _definitely _did not want to be a part of this mess, excused himself, saying that he had some calls to make.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

As soon as Ianto had disappeared through the large cog door, Trace violently pulled herself out of the men's grasps. Moving so she could see both of them, the girl practically snarled, "Do _not_ touch me!"

Owen immediately raised his hands innocently and, with wide eyes, stepped back. Jack, however, was having none of it. The immortal chose to ignore her words and gently put his arm around her, trying to lead her away from the main area.

The teenager refused to move and glared at the man before asking, "Where the hell do you think you're taking me?"

Jack glanced at his daughter very briefly and responded, "To the showers. I thought you might want to clean up." He stood there, looking straight ahead for a minute until he finally sensed her start to move.

Thankful that this did not turn into a fight or, for lack of better words, another round of "let's-try-to-beat-up-Jack," the man allowed himself a small grin while leading the way.

When the two arrived at the showers, Trace noticed her bags leaning against the wall. She listened as Jack told her to borrow Gwen's soap and shampoo as the woman wouldn't mind and how afterwards he'd make her breakfast.

The girl turned to glare at him again and asked sarcastically, "You can cook?" She was disappointed when her father did not get riled; instead he answered in the affirmative and decided that he would go ahead and make her an omelet while she's in the shower, so it'd be ready when she came out.

Before she could get another word in, Jack turned around and left. Trace, feeling disgusting in her torn, bloodied clothes decided that just this once she would do what he said.

While Trace was in the shower, she wondered what the Captain was playing at. Yesterday he had looked completely broken, if she remembered correctly. Yet, this morning he seemed completely normal and took everything in stride. Nothing she said or did seemed to have any affect him.

Once she was clean and dressed with her damp hair combed out of her face, Trace stepped into the hallway and started making her way back to the main part of the Hub.

When she reached her destination, the girl was greeted by the sight of Gwen and Tosh, each at their respective work stations. She was suddenly hit with the realization of the fact that the day was Thursday.

She now had a reason to escape this maze of tunnels and rooms: school. A small smile formed on her lips, which was completely wiped away when Gwen approached her, saying that Jack and Owen were in the kitchen.

With a slight scowl on her face, Trace allowed herself to be pointed in the correct direction. Upon entering the kitchen, she saw the two men sitting at a small table, a plate holding an omelet and two pieces of toast and a glass of OJ across from them.

Normally the teenager would never give in, but just the sight of the food made her stomach growl and her mouth water. So, reluctantly, she sat down in front of the small meal.

Feeling their eyes on her, Trace kept her gaze firmly on the plate and went to take a bite of the omelet. However, with the fork half-way to her mouth, she stopped and informed the Captain that because of what day it is, it is the law that she be in school.

Jack's grin slipped a tiny bit as he looked over at his medic. "I don't see a reason why the kid shouldn't go," the Englishman said before adding sarcastically, "I could even write a note."

The immortal considered the comment for a few seconds before saying, "That sounds great." He then turned back to his daughter and said, "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I went with the basic cheese omelet."

When the man realized that the medic hadn't moved, he added, "I meant it, Owen. You're a doctor; you get to write notes."

Grumbling, Owen rose from his seat and left, passing Ianto at the doorway. After watching the grouchy medic leave, the Welshman turned his attention back to the two sitting at the table.

He sat down in the chair that was recently vacated. "I called the school and notified them of the change. I've also arranged to have those forms you need, sir, sent over today. They should arrive after lunch. Also, while I was out this morning, I picked this up for you, Miss Trace."

Trace looked up from her now empty plate to see the young man place a catalogue on the table and slide it over to her. Reading the cover, she realized it was a furniture catalogue. Jack, wondering if they were starting to move too fast, asked, "Really, Ianto?"

"Well, sir," came his reply, "The sooner everything is completed, the sooner Miss Trace can settle in and adjust to her new life here. Besides, there's no time like the present. If the young lady would pick out what she likes before heading off to school, I can go ahead and place the order."

Trace nearly choked on her orange juice. "Excuse me? What exactly do you mean by that?" she asked, terrified of the answer.

Jack looked at his daughter, trying to keep the compassion he was feeling off his face. "It means that you are moving in here. Unless, of course, you'd prefer to live on the streets."

When he saw her open her mouth to reply, he quickly cut her off. "And that was _not _me giving you an option."

Trace could feel anger building up inside of her. Not wanting to let that man know he was affecting her, she chose to cross her arms and sit there with a blank look on her face. She really hated how she had suddenly lost complete control of her life.

For a minute, the two endured a staring contest. However, Jack soon grew tired of it and stood up. "You have exactly ten minutes to pick out something you like or I will do it for you, after which you will go to school."

With that, the Captain marched out of the kitchen, past the cross medic who was now holding a note.

Now confused, Owen sat down in Jack's chair and looked to Ianto, who just shook his head. The two turned their attentions back to the very irritated teen.

Ianto sighed, taking it upon himself to try and soothe her just like he does her father. "I know everything is happening very fast, but I assure you it's for the best. With everything sorted right away, it will be easier for you to settle down here.

"Trust me. The quicker everything is done, the better. Just try not to think or worry about anything other than picking out furniture you like and school right now."

When he saw that his words had no affect on the girl, he tried a different approach. "He was serious, just so you know. Jack really will take the catalogue and pick the first thing he sees. The man has absolutely no taste."

With a scowl, Trace caved and grabbed the publication. She flipped through it angrily, tearing a few pages. After a couple of minutes, she put it down and resumed her earlier stance.

* * *

After taking a very tense ten minutes in his office wondering if he was going about this the wrong way, Jack glanced at his watch and headed back to the kitchen. He figured that unless his daughter had a very bad reaction to Ianto's "stay cool, calm, and collected" plan, he would keep at it.

As he stepped into the kitchen, he asked, "Find anything nice?" When no one moved, he walked up behind the girl and peered over her shoulder at the catalogue.

"Which one did you choose?" the immortal asked, curious. He watched as she pointed to a set made with black metal.

One eyebrow rose; he had not really been expecting that. Weren't girls supposed to want nice, light, wooden furniture? Confused, he asked if she was sure.

Trace tensely nodded her head and left it at that. Letting out a breath that he was unaware he was holding, Jack said, "Alright. If that's what you really want. Yan, can you take care of that?"

Ianto stood and grabbed the catalogue before making his way out of the room. The Captain returned his attention to his daughter, telling her to go grab her backpack. He then asked Owen for that note, his eyes never leaving the girl as she left.

The medic, who still wasn't completely sure what was going on, wordlessly held out the note.

As Trace made her way back to her bags, she realized that Jack wasn't following her. No one was. It was then that she realized she could sneak a few extra things into her backpack.

So, as soon as she reached them and made sure her back was blocking her actions from any cameras, the teen moved some clothes and her secret money stash, hidden in a book, in with her schoolbooks.

No more than two minutes later, the girl was back in the main part of the Hub and met Jack at the cog door. Silently, the two headed towards the school, leaving the SUV in case there was rift activity.

While they walked, Jack tried several times to start a conversation, but Trace wasn't having it. She just stared straight ahead, her face blank. Soon enough, the two reached her school. Not knowing where to go, the immortal followed his daughter towards the office.

Once there, he took over, speaking with the receptionist while Trace was sent to class. Jack was his normal, charming self while accepting some papers to fill out and sign.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

It was a few minutes before last period would begin. Trace headed over to her locker and got out her backpack. After checking to make sure nothing was missing, she casually walked to the end of the hall, towards an exit door. Once she was sure no-one was watching, the girl snuck out the door and made her way off campus.

As soon as the cold air hit her face, Trace grinned. She thought about how amazing it felt to be taking her life back. After walking a couple of blocks, the teen suddenly came to a stop.

She realized that there were cameras all around town and that Jack's team could easily look up the footage to find out where she was. Being a quick thinker, she studied the few cameras in the area while pretending to search her bag for something.

When she figured out what angles could not be captured on film, the girl casually wandered over the closest area that was out of the cameras' line of sight. For the rest of the afternoon Trace was on guard, watching where she was walking while checking around for any Torchwood member.

By the time it was six, the teen had reached the other side of town. Realizing how hungry she was, Trace entered the nearest food establishment and ordered some chips. Within minutes, she was sitting down at a secluded table trying to picture Jack's reaction to her "disappearance" while enjoying her small meal.

Back at the Hub, Jack was getting antsy waiting for his daughter to get back. Trying to distract himself, the Captain recalled the day's events.

While finishing up at Trace's school, he had gotten a call from his team about something coming through the rift. He met up with Owen and Gwen shortly after, only to find a small, empty, harmless container.

When he got back to the Hub, he discovered that Ianto had already placed the order with the furniture store and that the papers he had to fill out would arrive soon (Jack had grumbled at that, to which Ianto replied, "You must do this the legal way, sir; no shortcuts.")

That afternoon had been spent completing the aforementioned forms and flirting with the "tea-boy."

With a frustrated sigh, the immortal checked his watch. He jumped up when he read six-thirty. He was now feeling a combination of anger, concern, and disbelief. After everything that's gone on, the girl still had the nerve to run off.

Jack stomped slightly down the stairs to the main area before ordering Tosh to bring up this afternoon's CCTV around the school. The woman followed his orders silently, and the two began to watch.

The Captain soon spotted his daughter sneak out of school and wander off. Without either of them saying a word, Toshiko followed her until the girl disappeared from sight. Jack let out a frustrated groan before saying, "She's too damn smart for her own good."

Turning and heading towards the cog door, he continued, "Toshiko, keep a lookout for Trace; everyone else, keep doing what you're doing. I think I know where she's heading," before leaving.

Meanwhile, Trace had finished eating and was wondering where she should go when she realized that she shouldn't be forced to stay in a town she doesn't want to live in. With that, she stood up and headed out, weary of any cameras.

After another forty-five minutes of walking through the still-unfamiliar town (which goes to show how well she usually pays attention to her surroundings), the teen finally reached her destination. The train station. Looking around, she decided it would be best to just hurry across the street and inside. It was pretty dark out, anyway.

Once inside, she spotted the ticket counter and grinned to herself before walking across the room. About half-way there, Trace felt someone grab her upper arm.

"I hear London's wonderful this time of year."

The girl resisted the urge to groan. She knew without looking exactly who it was that dared grab her.

Turning to her left, Trace came face to face with Captain Jack Harkness. "Oh, it is! You should definitely visit when you get some time off," she told him sarcastically.

He just gave her this disappointed look and shook his head before pulling her out to the SUV. When he opened the passenger door, the teen just shook her head and said, "No thanks. I've already got a ride," while pointing back at the station.

Jack was not amused in the slightest. Instead of doing anything rash, as his daughter had somehow been able to _really _annoy him, the man gently shoved her into the SUV, secured the seat belt for her and locked the door before shutting it.

Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the driver's side and got in. The drive back to the Hub was filled with a tense silence. Trace was mad that he had known _exactly _where to find and Jack was already tired of her attitude. Trying to think back, he couldn't remember ever being that way as a kid.

_Then again, my years as a con could count as rebellion, _he thought.

After what felt like forever, Jack finally parked the car, went over to let his daughter out, and marched her inside, all the way to his office where he shut the door and sat her down.

Leaning against his desk, the two regarded each other for a few minutes before Jack spoke.

"You have only been here one day and I am already sick of your attitude and your behavior. We are going to set a few ground rules right here, right now."

Trace narrowed her eyes.

"Rule one: you will be allowed to walk to and from school on your own provided that you promise to never pull this stunt again. Rule two: you will be allowed out after school and on weekends as long as you notify me or a member of my team where you are going and are back by ten, eleven on the weekend."

Trace's eyes widened slightly and she opened her mouth to retaliate.

"Rule three," Jack continued without pause, "If I or my team tell you to do anything, you will listen; we don't want to see you get hurt by anything Torchwood-related or not. Rule four: you will stay out of any and all kinds of trouble. If you do find yourself in any you will call me or one of the others right away and not do anything stupid."

Trace resumed glaring at the man and asked sarcastically, "Is that all?"

"For now," he replied, his face completely blank.

The girl looked him straight in the eyes and asked, "And if I refuse?"

Taking a deep breath, crossing his arms, and meeting her gaze, the Captain said, "If you should refuse, your consolation prize will be an escort to and from school, Hub arrest, and a nifty little tracking device that I know Toshiko would be thrilled to make for you."

Trace just stared at him for a second before she snapped, "You know what? You can take your little rules and regulations and shove them!" She then stood up and ran out of the office. Realizing that the chances of getting out of the Hub were very slim, the teen turned at the bottom of the stairs and ran down a hallway, heading unknowingly towards the archives.

Gwen, Tosh, and Owen watched her go, the latter shaking his head hoping that she doesn't run into Ianto as he really wants some coffee later.

A few seconds later, the three jumped at a loud bang from the office.

Jack, upset that no matter what angle he took he couldn't seem to get through to the kid, didn't even notice his bleeding hand or the crack on the desk.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

_Two Weeks Later…_

Jack stepped into the back of a truck with a flashlight, moving further in. As the team followed him, he stopped in front of something covered by a tarp. Pulling it away, they were greeted by a large clump of meat.

"Ugh," Jack grunted as he pressed his foot into the meat. Owen, looking disgusted, commented, "Oh, it stinks!"

"No bones, just dense flesh," the Captain stated quietly.

"It's not like any flesh I've ever seen," the medic said.

"What is it?" Gwen questioned. Just as Jack was about to get a closer look, his phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, he sighed before excusing himself. As he stepped out, he answered.

"Hello?"

"Captain Harkness?"

"Yes, what has Trace done this time?" the immortal asked. For the past two weeks, Trace had…gone "wild" for lack of a better term. She was constantly getting in trouble at school and if she was at the Hub, she would continuously annoy the team and mess with stuff. Sometimes potentially dangerous stuff.

"Today your daughter decided to mouth off to her history teacher before trying to start a riot."

"And by riot, you mean…" Jack trailed off, afraid of the answer.

He heard the principal sigh. "I mean she started yelling to the class things such as 'are we going to let someone like this teach us' and was starting to get results. If I hadn't happened by the classroom in time to hear the entire class yell 'no we won't' I don't know what would've happened next."

"Great," he said sarcastically. The man had to admit, Trace had style. She knew just acting up a little wasn't going to get to him, so instead she's going big. And, unfortunately, it was starting to work.

"I'm afraid she must be suspended for the rest of the week," the principal continued, not sounding sorry in the slightest.

"I understand. I'll be there as soon as possible." With that, the Captain hung up.

After taking a few seconds to gather his strength, he stuck his head inside the truck and told Owen to grab a sample. Upon seeing that the medic was already at the task, Jack nods at Ianto.

Once the Welshman joined him outside, they started talking.

"Did you find out where it came from?" Jack asked.

Ianto understood to not mention the phone call and replied, "No, but it is a Harwood's lorry, so-"

"Oh, um, that's Rhys' firm," Gwen interrupted the two. The men turned to look at her, none noticing Rhys watching from a distance.

Before any of the trio could say something more, Owen joined them, saying, "Right, done."

Wanting to get out of there, Jack led the team back to the SUV. After dropping them off at the Hub with orders to Owen to indentify the meat, he continued on to the school.

When he got there, the Captain immediately made his way to the office, where he found his daughter sitting nonchalantly in a chair. The principal came out of his office and greeted him.

"I am so sorry about Trace's behavior lately. Things have been a bit crazy, but that's not an excuse," the immortal started to say, glaring at Trace. He didn't really pay attention to whatever the other man was saying and was soon leading his daughter back to the SUV.

They spent the ride back to the Hub in silence. Once they were inside, Trace went to go to her room, but Jack grabbed her arm. "Oh, no you don't. We're going to talk. In the office, now."

Without giving her a chance to say or do anything, he led her up to his office, closing the door behind them.

Trace settled herself into a chair while her father leaned against the desk with his arms crossed.

"You're going too far. Mouthing off a bit, cutting class, gluing Owen's hand to his chair-"

"That was an acc-" Trace started to say, before Jack cut her off. "Are all a bit childish, but I can deal with that. Trying to start a _riot_? That…that is going too far."

"Oh, plea-" she tried again, unsuccessfully.

"I get it. I ruined your life; I _get_ it. But now you're living here, with me, and you are just going to have to deal with it. Now you get to spend the next couple of days stuck in here. I don't even want to _hear_ you _think_ about trying to sneak out. And when you do go back to school, you are going to behave."

"Do _I_ get to speak now?" Trace asked, irritated.

"No. You get to go to your room." With that, Jack led her down to the main area and pushed her in the direction of her room while making his way to the autopsy bay.

While Owen gave Jack his report and the rest started looking into who was using the lorry, Trace seethed in her room.

Trying to calm down, she studied what she had done to the place. The furniture had come after only one day (_that Ianto must be some kind of magician or something_, she thought) and looked great. Ianto had cleaned the room up well; he put in bright lights, and painted the walls sky blue (possibly to lighten the place up).

Her few books, along with her new laptop and I-pod (at Jack's insistence – one time she didn't mind – and kindly upgraded by Tosh), sat on the desk. The walls now held a couple of posters of bands (classics like Motley Crue and Rolling Stones to "younger" bands like the All-American Rejects from, surprise, America, and the Kaiser Chiefs).

That magician, Ianto, found a huge, super-soft, black shag rug for her floor that she absolutely adored along with a black…butterfly chair…if she recalled the correct name. The dresser was stuffed with clothes seeing as once that woman, Gwen, saw how "few" articles she owned decided to have a "girls' day" shopping. (It. Was. Torture.)

Despite herself, Trace felt comfortable and at home in the room. Deciding that she needed some music, the girl made herself stand up and walk over to the desk to turn on the I-pod (with speakers) before plopping back down on the rug.

She hadn't actually _meant_ to try and start a riot; she just got a bit carried away. Serves Jack right. He wanted to get to know her so bad, well now he can. Soon he should get tired of dealing with her antics and allow her to return to London on her own.

After a couple of minutes, Trace decided that she was bored and left the room. Cautiously sticking her head around the corner, she saw everyone but that stupid medic and Ianto. Wondering where they were, the girl soon got her answer.

"Jack!" Everyone heard Owen shout and the team made their way to the autopsy bay while Trace stayed in place.

She watched the team look over for a moment before Owen's annoying voice could be heard again.

"Scan shows it's definitely alien meat." _Alien meat? What the hell?_ the teen thought.

She watched her father sigh before speaking. "Where the hell would they get it from?"

"If it's going into the processing plant, that means it's going into pies, burgers, pasties – everything," the Japanese woman, Tosh, said.

"That means people have been eating it for months!" Gwen exclaimed. Suddenly, Trace didn't feel so well as she watched the medic come up the stairs.

"Well, the DNA traces are stable. There are some signs of animal sedative, but no detectable diseases or residues. My guess is, it's good to eat," she heard him say.

"Would _you_ eat it?" Gwen asked as Ianto came up to the group.

"Pizza's arrived; presumed it would be a late one," the Welshman stated.

Trace heard Owen sigh before asking what he gets.

When she heard Ianto tell him "usual – meat feast," her stomach did a flip while she repressed a snort.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

Trace watched as everyone but Jack went to the workstations to grab their pizzas. Realizing where Jack was going to head, she quickly went back to her room. Just as she sat down, there was a knock at the door.

Staying silent, with a blank face in place, the teen watched Jack open the door before informing her that they have food. He waited as she stood up and turned off her music before the two headed out to join the others.

When her father just handed Trace a slice and turned around, she was a bit surprised. "I can stay?" she asked, wanting to see if it was true.

"No antics, then, yeah, you can stay," Jack replied before grabbing his own food and starting to eat while standing.

Slowly, the girl sat down on the couch with Tosh between her and Owen. As she looked down, Trace grimaced inwardly when she saw that she, too, got to eat the meat feast. Glancing over at the medic, she raised her eyebrows in a questioningly manner before asking, "What the hell are you doing to your pizza?"

"Uh," Owen glanced at Jack, who had his own eyebrow raised, waiting to see the answer. "I just don't feel like eating meat today."

"Since when?" she continued, hoping this would play out so she could remove the meat on hers without any questions.

"Well, I-I, uh…huh," he sputtered, trying to come up with a valid reason.

"We have reason to believe it may not be completely…safe, so I'd take it off yours as well," the Captain came to Owen's rescue.

"O-kay," Trace replied, secretly glad to be told to.

"Ianto, what've you got?" Jack asked as everyone turned their attention to the pacing man.

"I've narrowed it down to three potential sights – only one warehouse is unoccupied. It's just outside Merthyr."

"Makes sense," Owen piped up, "Who knows what goes on there?"

Jack spoke up again. "We've got to shut the operation down, neutralize whoever is doing this, and identify the alien meat."

"_Alien _meat?" Trace spoke up, both to keep up the charade and to confirm what she heard earlier.

Gwen received a text message as Jack answered, "Yes, alien meat," before looking to Tosh. "You can coordinate."

Suddenly Gwen said she needed to check on Rhys, her boyfriend, and Jack told her to find out how much he knows.

As she left, Trace heard the Welshwoman say, "That's not what I meant."

Once she had disappeared through the cog door, everyone finished the meal in silence.

When everyone as done, Jack started giving out orders.

"Toshiko, you know what to do. Ianto, Owen – head out to the warehouse."

"What ware-" Trace started to ask when the Captain interrupted her.

"And _you_," he said, pointing a finger at her, "are going to stay here and not do anything funny. Tosh will be here, so don't even try to sneak out. Got it?"

The two had a small staring contest before the teen grunted and nodded her head.

"Good." Jack turned to the two men. "What are you still doing here? Go!"

The girl watched the pair leave before turning to see Jack step onto the invisible lift. "I'll wait for Gwen up there," he explained as it started to move.

Looking over at Tosh, the Japanese woman gave her a small smile before Trace shook her head and went back towards her room.

However, after only about twenty minutes of trying to do some homework, the teen was antsy again. So, she brought it out to the main part of the Hub. That way, she wasn't completely alone.

She was just finishing her math homework when she heard Tosh speak. "I've got blueprints of the warehouse. The stock has to be in the central area. Having fun?"

For a few seconds, Trace was confused, but then she remembered the headset that the woman was wearing. Realizing this was her chance to get a bit clued in on what was going on, she quietly walked up behind Tosh.

Looking over the smaller woman's shoulder, she was able to see the blueprints on the screen.

A few minutes later, however, Toshiko realized she was being watched. "What are you doing?" she asked, turning around.

"Uh, just looking. Pretty interesting stuff," Trace told her. Unfortunately for the girl, that was a bad move.

She had to spend the rest of the time with everyone else out listening to the other woman explain some of the programs on the computer. She was actually glad to see Jack, Owen, and Ianto walk in.

"You better not be bothering Tosh," was the first thing out of Jack's mouth, as he was in a bad mood.

Trace made a noise of indignity before replying, "No, I was not. Tosh here was explaining some of her programs to me cause I was curious." She stopped herself from adding _so there_, realizing how childish that would've sounded.

"Really?" her father asked suspiciously, "So what did she teach you?"

"Well, I, uh," she started, trying to recall something, when Tosh responded quietly, "It's alright. This stuff's a bit complicated, I don't really expect you to understand it."

Jack watched as his daughter silently thanked the computer genius before she headed into the kitchen.

* * *

After spending a little time in the kitchen trying to find some junk food and avoiding her father and his team, Trace stepped back into the main area.

She saw Ianto, Toshiko, and Owen in the lounge area with drinks and her father standing on the catwalk across the Hub.

Walking closer, the teen listened as the team talked.

"Well, this is unprecedented, a fiancé finding out," Ianto said. Curious, she stayed quiet, just listening.

"Mainly because we're all sad and single," Tosh added.

Owen piped up. "Speak for yourself. I am better off without that kind of hassle."

Trace looked back up at Jack as he walked towards the greenhouse; the two briefly made eye contact before he went back to watching Ianto. She idly wondered what it would have been like if he hadn't lied to her mum before shaking her head. _All this talk of fiancés and stuff is getting to me_, she thought.

"Maybe the answer is to go out with someone who knows what you do," she heard Tosh say.

"Look around you, Tosh," Owen countered, "Only we know what we do," before walking away.

Trace thought about how blind the medic was. She had only been there two weeks and even she could see how Tosh felt about him.

Soon after, she heard the lift working. Looking up, the teen saw Gwen and some man who must be Rhys on it. _I guess it works without Jack's wrist strap thing after all, _she thought.

Everyone could hear Rhys say, "Wow!" As the lift kept descending, they also heard him say, "Who could've thought this was here?"

Suddenly, the pterodactyl flew around, surprising the newcomer. "That looked so real!" Trace rolled her eyes as she heard Gwen say that it was. As the two touched down, Rhys replied, "They're extinct, Gwen."

Staying in her spot by the couch, the girl watched her father approach the lift. "In your timeline, yes," she could hear him say as the two men shook hands.

"Captain Jack Harkness. Thanks for dropping in, Rhys."

Slowly, Trace started edging her way closer to the others as Gwen stepped off the lift, introducing everyone.

"This is the rest of the team – Owen and Toshiko, Ianto, and over there is Jack's daughter, Trace."

Something about the casual way the Welshwoman said "Jack's daughter" didn't sit well with Trace, but she couldn't quite put her finger on. _Although, it was the truth._

"Pleased to meet you," Rhys said enthusiastically before Jack officially welcomed the man to the headquarters.

"They're bigger than mine," she heard Rhys jokingly whine, making Gwen giggle and her own father smile. The teen glanced at the rest of the team, none of them were smiling.

"So, Gwen tells me you catch aliens."

Jack nodded. "That's right."

Suddenly Owen spoke up, "There's a rift through space and time that runs through Cardiff, Rhys, and stuff slips through it from other timelines and planets and it's our job to monitor it."

Trace silently applauded the medic's tone of voice as he explained Torchwood while Rhys finally stepped off the platform.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes when she heard the oblivious man ask Gwen if she was sure this wasn't some kind of weird cult.

But Gwen ignored his comment, instead saying, "You saw that alien in the warehouse. Go on."

He still seemed a bit nervous so Jack asked what he saw. "Uh," Rhys started, "It was like this huge, shapeless beast filling the space, like a mound of flesh."

"So it's one massive entity, as opposed to several organisms?" Toshiko questioned.

When Gwen nodded, Owen spoke up again. "The latest tests reveal high levels of chloride, so it probably lives in the water. I reckon it came through the rift into the sea, and it's beached itself."

Jack added his own two cents, "Like a giant manatee," causing the medic to nod.

Trace just stood there and watched the team work out all the information, paying attention to what they really do for the first time.

"But how did they get it there?" Ianto asked, "That warehouse must be fifty meters long."

"Um," Rhys started to answer, "Maybe it was smaller when they found it, because they said it's growing."

That surprised everyone. "So it's not dead?" the Captain clarified.

"No, it's breathing. Its eye opened."

"So the protein chains are regenerating despite the mutilation, so not only is it replenishing its own flesh, but it's increasing it, giving them a brand-new meat supply," Owen explained.

"It would last them for years, then." "If we understood how it worked, we could feed the world." "We could release a single…" The rest of the team spoke in quick succession, giving Trace a headache while trying to comprehend all of this.

But Jack put them back in their place. "We're talking about dodgy pies and Merthyr, okay? And the fact that they're cutting it up alive," he paused to look at Rhys, "Which we could've put a stop to already, if it wasn't for you."

But Rhys interrupted, "I thought my fiancé was in danger."

"Well, Mr. Caveman, she wasn't. She can handle herself," came the immortal's retort, causing his daughter to raise an eyebrow in amusement. It amused her further to see the man ignore Gwen's warnings.

"All you did tonight was mess things up. Now we have to think of a way to get back in. And thanks to you, they'll have tightened security!" he continued.

Rhys tried to defend himself again, stating, "Well, if you stopped and asked me exactly what I saw in there, instead of showing off round the place-"

_Wrong move_, Trace thought a bit gleefully as Jack asked Ianto if he showed off, which the latter replied, "Just a bit."

Then Gwen's _fiancé_ continued with his little tirade, making her headache grow stronger still.

"You'd know that I got out by telling them I wanted a job as a delivery boy. So rather than cock things up, I found you a way to get in! But if you can't handle that, big boy, then you can stuff it!"

When he got in Jack's face, Trace's eyes widened a bit. _So he's a little tougher than he looks, _she thought.

But her thought process was ruined when she heard her father tell Gwen, "This is quite homoerotic." Then the teen had some very unwelcomed images flash through her mind.

But the Welshwoman did not agree. "No, no, no, no, Jack! He is not getting us in!"

The girl watched as her father said, "Team meeting," adding a, "You too!" to Rhys. The Captain then went to leave before he turned around and walked up to her.

"Not you." "But, that's no-" Trace started to complain, but the immortal was having none of it. "I said no! Go finish your homework."

She watched him march away, the team following, for a minute before huffing and heading back to the couch. As she picked up her next assignment, she suddenly wondered how he knew she didn't finish her homework.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

By the time everyone came back down, Trace had finished her assignments and was idly doodling in one of her notebooks.

She watched from her seat on the couch as Owen ran down to the autopsy bay before heading back up carrying a kit of some sort while her father stormed off to his office, slamming the door behind him.

Ianto and Toshiko headed into the kitchen and she debated joining them. But then she saw the remaining two coming towards her, so she decided to stay and maybe learn what's going on.

However, she decided to move over to Owen's desk when she heard the "happy" couple arguing. As Gwen and Rhys sat down on the recently vacated couch, the teen opened up one of the medic's many computer games (the only reason she would even consider using his stuff) to make her look busy.

After a while, though, Trace became fully immersed in the game she had chosen, blocking out the argument that was currently about whether or not Rhys should be allowed to help.

Soon her attention was drawn away when she caught sight of Toshiko heading up to Owen with a plate of sandwiches in her hands. The girl silently applauded the brilliant woman for finally taking the initiative before turning her attention back to the game.

Every minute or so, she would glance upstairs hoping to see a happy Tosh come out, possibly with Owen. After about ten minutes, Trace finally saw someone leave, but the medic was by himself, carrying both the kit from before and the plate of sandwiches.

Suddenly, her attention was drawn back to the couple behind her and the teen couldn't help but snort when she heard Rhys speak.

"I thought you worked for anti-terrorism or something. That was bad enough. But knowing you're in this much danger…"

"Yeah," Gwen replied, "You'd feel like I do now."

"What the hell do you think you're doing at my desk?" Trace jumped a little, not realizing Owen was next to her.

"What's it look like, genius? I'm playing a game," she replied smartly while cursing the medic in her head for interrupting the couple's conversation.

She watched as his glare became a little playful, which confused her. "I thought I told you not to mess with my stuff," he said walking backwards towards the kitchen, albeit slowly, "I better not come in tomorrow and find your name in the lead."

Trace gave him a strange look, wondering why he wasn't upset, before seeing him turn around and go through the doorway.

"Weird," she muttered to herself as she heard Gwen speak once again.

"Worried sick. You don't have to do this to prove anything to me."

When the two remained silent, the teen realized that Owen had returned. She paused the game and watched him put his stuff away before "warning" her again and leaving.

Once he was gone, she heard Rhys tell his fiancé, "And I'm not leaving you with all these sexy young men," causing her to gag.

"There's only one, from where I'm sitting," Gwen replied.

Then the girl heard silence. Curious, she turned around and saw the two in a lip-lock. She was about to turn back to the game when she caught the Welshwoman open her eyes and look at something.

Wondering what could possibly be so interesting, Trace followed the woman's eyes and saw Jack turn away from his office window. She felt anger and a hint of…protectiveness?...no, just anger at Gwen for staring at him while kissing her fiancé.

* * *

The next day, Trace came out of the kitchen with a bagel in her hand to see the entire team (plus Rhys) together by the workstations.

Just as she reached the group, Jack told everyone to head out before turning to look at her. Watching everyone else leave, the teen received a small smile from Gwen and Tosh, a nod from Ianto and Owen, and a huge grin from Rhys, who looked pretty nervous.

Once the cog door rolled shut again, she turned back to her father and waited.

"I don't know how long we're going to be gone today," he started. "I want you to stay in the Hub. I had Tosh set up a program so I'll know if you leave, so I wouldn't even try if I were you."

"What the hell am I supposed to do stuck inside this place all day?" Trace questioned.

"Listen to music, play Owen's games, dance in your underwear. As long as you don't mess with Tosh's computer or the archives and don't break anything, I don't care. Just stay inside," the Captain answered.

He turned around to leave before changing his mind. Turning back, Jack quickly hugged his daughter and kissed her cheek before she could complain, adding a "have fun" and heading out himself.

Groaning in frustration, Trace plopped down in the closest chair, which happened to be Owen's.

Deciding to make the most of her time alone in the Hub, she started going through the medic's drawers while finishing her bagel.

After hours of snooping through desks and her father's office (taking back any and all items confiscated from her), beating Owen at his own games, eating lunch, and reorganizing everyone's workstations (which was not on Jack's off-limits list) the team finally came back while she was lying on the couch listening to music and eating a candy bar, wondering if she _should_ have given Todd her number so she could actually _talk_ to someone.

The teen opened her eyes and jumped up at the sight of everyone. Gwen and Owen were on either side of Rhys, who looked like he was shot. Tosh and Ianto had solemn looks on their faces. But Jack looked absolutely devastated about something.

It took a moment, but Trace realized that they must have killed the creature. So, when her father came over and hugged her, closing his eyes and just holding tight, she let him.

She knew she should do something to try to ease his pain, but she still was unsure about the man. She finally decided to awkwardly put her arms loosely around him, her hands barely touching his back. Not that it meant anything; she still wanted to make his life, and subsequently the teams' lives, miserable. But she could tell he needed this.

Jack sighed quietly. While he still hated losing that beautiful creature, he couldn't help but relish the small interaction with his child. With a much louder sigh a few minutes later, he forced himself to pull away.

Trace watched him give her a small grin before gently pulling her towards the autopsy bay. Curious to find out what happened, she followed.

The two joined Tosh at the top, looking over the railing.

"Hero of the hour," the small woman said. The girl looked at her, and asked what she meant.

"Rhys stepped in front of Gwen and took a bullet for her," Jack explained quietly.

Suddenly, they heard Ianto speak up, "Next time, let her take the bullet," causing her to realize the Welshman was sitting on the steps.

"Never. What happened to the blokes?" Rhys questioned.

"We gave them amnesia pills," the Captain replied, "They'll remember who they are, but not what they did over the past few months."

"So they got away with it?" the injured man asked.

Jack reasoned that it could never stand in a court of law.

"And the creature?" Rhys continued with his inquiries.

Trace looked around as everyone quieted. After a moment, her father spoke. "Incinerated." She had been right.

"So there's nothing left. It was never there."

After another moment of silence, Jack suddenly said he needed a word with Gwen before turning abruptly and heading to his office.

Everyone watched the two disappear inside and waited, clearly uncomfortable, for them to come back out.

After only a minute, Gwen came down and she and her fiancé left. Trace saw Jack standing at his office window.

"You better not have replaced all my high scores."

She turned around and said, "Huh?"

"My games," Owen clarified, "Your name better not be all over the high scores."

Realizing the medic was trying to lift the mood, she grinned. "Well then, you better not return to your computer."

She watched as he started climbing the steps, saying, "Come on, then. I'll show you how a real gamer plays."

Trace watched him head towards his workstation and, upon remembering how many times she won at his games and how she rearranged his desk, grinned wider. "Sure you will," she said, joining him.

At first, Owen reacted like a child when he saw his stuff out of place before whining even more about the scores on his computer. Soon, however, he and Trace got locked in a virtual battle against each other.

Tosh had gone straight to her own desk and gave a small sigh, followed by a slight giggle, at her newly arranged desk before going straight to work.

After a short while, Jack came out of his office and joined Ianto in watching the fight for top score between their medic and his daughter.

"Would've joined you sooner but I had to reorganize my entire office and make a list of what to re-confiscate. Who're we rooting for?" he casually asked the younger man.

"I believe we want Trace to win," was Ianto's reply.

A little while later, the cog door opened and Gwen came running in, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and turn around.

"I'm not doing it. I won't drug him," the Welshwoman said adamantly.

The team spoke in quick succession. "You have to." "We can't allow him to remember." "It's the rules."

Gwen became frustrated. "But none of you have any partners outside of this!"

Jack, trying to soothe her, said, "But we understand how you feel."

Suddenly the woman went off.

"No, you don't. No, you don't, Jack. You all think it's cold and lonely out there, but it isn't for me, because I have him. He matters, and I've lied to him for long enough. What he did today was so brave. Braver than any of us, because we signed up for this, but he didn't. He did it because he loves me! And I won't take that away from him! I won't! And if that means I have to quit, or you retcon me, or whatever, then fine. Fine."

Trace raised an eyebrow. She was actually impressed. Everyone watched as Jack walked up to Gwen.

"You really think you could go back to your old life before Torchwood?" he asked her.

"I wouldn't know anything different."

The Captain hoarsely replied, "I would," causing the teen's other eyebrow to go up as she felt a bit angry again.

As the two adults stared at each other, she fought the urge to get up and leave.

Amazingly, after a minute Jack gave in. "Give Rhys my love and I will see you tomorrow."

Once Gwen had left again, Tosh looked questioningly at her leader as he headed back to his office. Ianto lingered by the steps and Owen turned back to the screen, intent on continuing the game against Trace only to realize the girl was gone.

Trace slammed her door and dropped onto the rug. _How could he possibly want Gwen? And how could she want him while fighting for her fiancé?_


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N - **Wow. I know it's been forever. Excuse time: I had a bunch of 'college problems' to take care of over the summer and then this whole semester was full of lab reports and tests for physics (which sucked because we had a really horrible teacher that didn't actually teach us anything), about 6 speeches, and 4 history essays to write. I was going to write over Thanksgiving, but we ended up visiting family. But at least I'm back now, right? Also, I can't believe it's taken me two years to write 20 chapters. But, what can I say other than: college? Anyway, getting back to the story, sorry if it's not the best thing I've written. It can be hard to just jump back in, ya know? Anyway, (if you haven't already skipped this paragraph) enjoy!

**Chapter Twenty**

_One Week Later…_

Jack rushed out of his office carrying a locked Torchwood box and set it down on the table. "Unlabeled Class D artifacts. Tosh, I need you to run a full check," he asked her as she passed by.

The small Japanese woman replied, "Sure."

"Owen, you can help," the Captain added.

"Happy to."

Turning to another man, Jack said, "Adam, I know how much you love audits," to which he replied, "Ah, it's gotta be done."

"If you could," Jack started to say before Adam cut in, "go through the reports, find out when they came through the rift."

As Adam sat down, his leader asked if it was okay.

Meanwhile, Gwen entered the Hub, back from vacation.

"You're late," was the first thing the Captain said to her.

Grinning, the Welshwoman replied that Paris was lovely before she spotted Adam.

"Who the _hell_ is this?" she asked the group incredulously.

Smiling, Adam got up and walked over to her. "Just because that's what I said to you on your first day," the man put his hand on Gwen's shoulder, "Remember?"

She suddenly saw flashbacks of laughing at her workstation with Adam, making coffee at the espresso machine, and playing basketball together.

Grinning back, she replied, "Sorry, couldn't resist. Come here, you!" and pulled him into a hug, "Good to see you."

Looking around the open space, the woman took in her grinning coworkers: Jack, in his usual outfit, Tosh, looking confident, Owen, wearing a conservative sweater and glasses, and Ianto making coffee.

"Where's-" she started to ask before Trace came out of the kitchen.

The teenager, dressed in a black skirt, white blouse, and conservative shoes, lit up upon seeing Gwen.

She quickly moved to hug the woman, saying, "Gwen! Welcome back! Did you have fun? I bet you did."

The Welshwoman merely laughed and shook her head, thinking _same old Trace_.

The two were interrupted, however, when Jack cleared his throat and pointed to his watch.

"Oh, right!" Trace grinned sheepishly before picking up her bag from the couch and walking over to her father, whom she gave a quick hug. He responded with a peck on her cheek and wishing her a good day at school before the girl bounded out of the Hub.

* * *

Adam sat at his computer with his personnel file on the screen and quickly typed in:

NAME: ADAM SMITH

D.O.B.: 16/11/82

RECRUITED: 05/07/050 – 0000

He had just hit 'enter' when he heard Toshiko ask what he was doing. Clearing the screen, he answered, "Nothing. Just finished updating details of rift activity.

Shrugging it off, the woman showed him a box with intricate patterns on the side, asking, "Any idea when this came through? It's got a low meson energy reading."

Taking the box and setting it aside, he casually said that he'd keep looking before placing his hand on her neck.

She suddenly saw flashbacks of smiling at Adam, who returned the smile, and kissing him before, coming back to the present, pulling him into a passionate kiss. When they finally pulled apart, Adam spoke.

"A year ago today."

"Our first kiss."

"You remembered." Tosh then hummed before the two resumed kissing.

* * *

Later, at lunch, Trace sat chattering away about this and that while Todd stared at her in shock.

"Trace?" he finally interrupted her. When she stopped talking, he figured that was permission to go on. "Have you been feeling okay?"

The girl smiled and chuckled before replying, "Of course I do. Why would you ask suck a silly thing?"

"Um, well, you're acting kinda weird." Trace went to speak, but he continued anyway. "It's just that, well, you uh- you never- ah, huh, I mean, I've ne-never seen you wear anything other than jeans and boots. But you're wearing a skirt."

Giving him a weird look, she said, "I don't know what you're talking about. I've always dressed like this."

Gaining confidence, Todd replied, "No. No, you don't. And it's not just your clothes. You're never that friendly to anyone, me included, unless you want something. You're behaving in class, which is totally weird. Not to mention that you're not complaining about your 'so-called father'."

Now thoroughly confused, she spoke up. "Why would I act up or complain about my dad? I love him. You're acting as if I'm normally mean and act out-of-control."

They were interrupted by the bell ringing, signifying the end of lunch. Standing up, Todd said one last thing. "I don't mean to be mean, or rude, or whatever, so no offense, but you are."

Trace sat there, watching him walk away, wondering if he'd lost his mind…or if she had.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Hub, Jack was down in the vaults. As he walked by the first cell, a weevil slammed against the glass and growled, to which he said, "Save it!" and continued on his way.

However, as he was going by the next cell, he saw a little boy in there. Stopping and turning to look, he saw a flash of an image of a child's hand slipping out of another's.

"Jack?"

Spooked, the immortal turned to see Gwen in the doorway before glancing back to see an empty cell. Making his way towards her, she asked if he was okay.

"Yeah, fine," he responded before giving a nervous laugh and glancing back again. But his attention was drawn back to the Welshwoman when she slapped him on his behind.

"Did you miss me?" she asked teasingly.

Grinning, Jack asked if she was gone before reaching for her. Gwen ran out, laughing, and he followed behind her, pausing to take one last look back.

* * *

A few hours later, Trace entered the Hub hugging her bag to her chest, looking deep in thought. Everyone looked up and greeted her while Jack approached for a welcome-home hug.

He stopped short, though, upon seeing the look on her face. Becoming concerned, the man asked her what was wrong, but the teen simply shook her head and headed to her room.

Not about to let this, or anything to do with his baby girl, go, he followed her.

Once the two were out of sight, Tosh and Adam returned to their own respective work, while Gwen and Ianto sat on the couch, one flipping through a file and the other toying with some device.

"Just doing a quick check," Toshiko broke the silence, "We had rift activity two days ago, but nothing seems to have come through."

Suddenly, a stuffed rodent appeared behind the woman's monitor. "Apart from me!" Owen said in a squeaky little voice.

Laughing, the medic squeezed the toy to make it squeak and Tosh asked what it was.

"It's a screen-cleaner," he answered, "I thought you might like it, um…do you…do you like it?"

"Just what I need. A small rodent looking at me while I work. Think I'll call it Owen."

Gwen chuckled as everyone watched the rejected man head back to the autopsy bay clutching a folder.

"He's like a little puppy, bringing her sticks. When's he gonna realize he's got no chance?" the Welshwoman thought out loud.

Ianto threw in that love is blind before commenting on how Owen had been following Tosh around for years.

"Oh, leave him alone," Adam interjected, "I think it's sweet. He's happy."

Changing the topic, Ianto wondered out loud what Trace and Jack could be talking about.

* * *

Trace knew her father was following her, but she was fine with it. She had been planning on discussing this with her father anyway. They never kept anything from each other. However, that didn't make it any easier once they were seated on her bed and he was waiting for her to speak.

"Alright, it's like this, Dad: Todd said some things today," the teen started uneasily.

"What kind of things?" Jack asked, waiting patiently for her to answer.

"Well, at lunch he told me that I'm acting weird. He said that I always wear jeans and boots and that I'm basically mean and act up unless I want something."

"Are the two of you having problems, or had a fight, or something?" the Captain questioned.

Shaking her head, Trace went on. "No, but after school, when I went to kiss him good-bye, he looked at me, shocked. And he's been acting weird for the last two days or so."

Mulling it over for a minute, Jack said that maybe Todd was distancing himself to prepare for a break-up.

"I don't think so, Dad. And here's the really weird thing: I've noticed that the teachers and other kids are always giving me these looks, like they are just waiting for me to do something, ya know?"

"I'm sure it's just your imagination, sweetheart," he patted his daughter's knee.

The girl gave a frustrated sigh before saying, a bit hotly, "I really don't think so, Dad! I just get this feeling, like maybe Todd's right. Something's wrong, at least. I don't know what, but Todd swears on his mother's life that we're not dating and that I'm not like this."

Jack raised his hands as if to say that he surrenders before speaking again. "Alright, alright. I believe you. If you figure out what's 'wrong', let me know, okay?"

He then stood up and kissed Trace's head before leaving.

Feeling extremely frustrated and confused, the teen put her pillow to her face and let out a scream.


End file.
